Displaced persons can be perceived - rightly or wrongly - as legitimizing territorial claims. Examples include the IDPs in Azerbaijan (in relation to Nagorno-Karabakh) and the Sahrawi refugees in Algeria (in relation to Western Sahara).
Are there any examples of similar situations, where displaced persons have found durable solutions other than return, and where "their side" has nevertheless later regained the territory that they were displaced from?
A number of deported (in Stalin times) peoples in former Soviet Union - who first took use of the changing political conditions in the USSR itself, and then after the disintegration of Union entered in processes of acclaiming their former territories -although these processes were very different in scale and structure. Chechens, Crimea Tatars, Kalmuks, Volga Germans etc
legitimizing territorial claims is possible with global citizenship
refugee movement is most often associated to territorial claims. Historically, you could look at the work of Nezvat Soguk, for example, to see how the refugee institution was assembled in relation to territory and the exercise of authority over it.
The case of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, which I am more familiar with, also allows for different takes on the process. On one side, their movement has historically been associated with claims over territory, between Afghanistan and Pakistan and in relation to s.c. Pakhtunistan. On the other side, the relation between their displacement and territorial claims, also suggest broadening the range of concerns to the involvement of third states (whether historically the British and Russian Empires, or in more contemporary times, Russia the US and regional powers) in the establishment and evolution of territorial claims associated to displacement.
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