Abstract:
Humanitarian policy and practice tend to promote the return of internally displaced persons to
their place of origin as the most desirable and sustainable solution to their situation. While the
end of violence can promote resolution, the assertion of autochthony by indigenous groups can
prevent the sustainable return of displaced outsiders, whose home is associated with another
geographical space. An examination of the situation of internally displaced persons in Kenya
reveals that nativist notions of belonging narrow the available options for ending displacement.
Claims to space on the basis of the broader conceptions of national citizenship and legal rights,
as opposed to indigeneity, attach multiple meanings to the notion of place of origin with implications
for durable solutions.