Abstracts Political Science

Housing, Land, and Property Rights in Post-Conflict Settings and Refugee Return: A Comparative Study of Guatemala, Kosovo, and Syria

by Majed Altaian

Housing, Land and Property (HLP) rights are based on human rights and international law entitling displaced persons to a safe residence free from eviction. Across several disciplines, the end of violence in a prolonged conflict situation results in a “post-conflict” state in which peace building, reconciliation, and restorative justice processes can begin. While post-conflict peace building involves many reconciliation processes, land rights and property restitution have been some of the most difficult to address. HLP rights in post-conflict settings can affect internally displaced persons and refugees by severely complicating their reintegration and readjustment processes, and in many cases act as a barrier to return. HLP rights are central issues before, during, and after conflict, and should be prioritized by governments and international actors in post- conflict settings due to the complexity of many land tenure systems and customary HLP law. This thesis will examine HLP history, laws, and disputes for three specific cases with particular emphasis on post-conflict settings, property claims, and property restitution. The primary focus of this study will be conflict and HLP rights in Syria, which involves a complicated land tenure system, demographic engineering through property expropriation, and pressure placed on refugees to return home by host countries. Additionally, this thesis looks at two past cases, Guatemala and Kosovo, to assess some best practices and shortcomings of previous attempts to address HLP issues in post-conflict settings.