Elections will continue to follow conflicts as the means of reconstituting post-conflict governments. Refugees will be a factor in each of these election events. Although organizations such as the UNHCR have consistently supported refugee political rights, during the 1990s international responses were inconsistent as regards political will and resources to enfranchise refugees, and varied from event to event and from region to region. Obtaining consistency in the responses should involve the allocation of resources as well as the regulatory framework and practices in host countries.

Commensurate with the implementation of such consistent standards, the capacity to monitor their application must also be provided by the international community, and the responsibility for doing so must be assigned. A programme of focused observation of political processes involving refugee populations must be adopted for an international group to consider.

Finally, one motive for expelling a population—disenfranchising it—can be eliminated by maintaining consistent international responses to guarantee that elections provide for full political participation by refugees.