PHOTOBOOK

Returnees

CHAD - For decades, Chadian communities in the Central African Republic (CAR) lived lives that defied neat borders. They settled, traded, married, and raised families, blurring the distinction between “migrant” and “local”.

When violence erupted in CAR in 2013, it unraveled lives that had long stretched across countries and generations. As the crisis deepened, many who had once belonged found themselves abruptly recast as outsiders, swept up in waves of suspicion and violence. Tens of thousands fled north to Chad, returning to a country some had never truly known.

Their journey exposed one of migration’s paradoxes: returning “home” can become another form of displacement. Many arrived in fragile regions already struggling with scarce land, weak services, and limited economic opportunities. Reintegration proved deeply complex, as returnees carried not only the trauma of loss, but also the challenge of rebuilding a sense of belonging in places that, for many, felt unfamiliar.