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.
