Challenging repatriation as a durable solution: a critical discourse analysis of Kosova’s repatriation strategy

This qualitative study, grounded in postcolonial theories and using critical discourse analysis, examines the discourses shaping Kosova’s National Strategy for the Reintegration of Repatriated Persons in order to contribute to the paucity of the literature on repatriating rejected asylum seekers. The main findings suggest that the dominant discourse used in the strategy constructs an exclusive EU and exalts the EU both as an institutional aspiration and a physical destination that Kosova actively strives to reach. Alignment of the strategy with EU policies has a central place in the strategy, illustrating a European Union–Kosova power asymmetry. These findings add to the body of existing repatriation literature, which has criticized the global North’s dominance on repatriation policy development and they provide important implications for future repatriation policies.