AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

Pilot Details

On June 12th, the UN High Commission for Refugees asked the AAAS/IPLS Survey of Kosovar Refugees project to conduct a survey asking Kosovar residents of refugee camps in Albania how long they would be willing to wait before returning home. People answered that they would be willing to wait surprisingly long times -- if they were asked to wait, and if it seemed as if security conditions required waiting.

In the days that followed, refugees returned to Kosovo nearly immediately following the entrance of NATO troops, perhaps because they understood conditions to be safe and because no one asked them to remain in Albania.

This project may offer a model of how refugees' opinions can be assessed rapidly so that camp management take their perspectives into consideration when making policy.

Survey of Kosovar Refugees Project: Survey of Refugees' Attitudes About Return (Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)