repatriation
noun
re·pa·tri·a·tion
(ˌ)rē-ˌpā-trē-ˈā-shən 
-ˌpa-
plural repatriations
: the act or process of restoring or returning someone or something to the country of origin, allegiance, or citizenship : the act of repatriating or the state of being repatriated
While officials privately acknowledge there is scant legal basis for repatriation, their public statements suggest that they would use lawsuits, diplomatic pressure and shame to bring home looted objects—not unlike Italy, Greece and Egypt, which have sought, with some success, to recover antiquities in European and American museums.—
Andrew Jacobs
Andrew JacobsThey say they have that right under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which requires that human remains and artifacts be returned to Indian tribes that can show a cultural link.—Timothy Egan
Timothy EganThis left him an illegal immigrant in Hong Kong, subject to arrest and repatriation at any time.—Nicholas D. Kristof
Nicholas D. KristofExamples of repatriation in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In addition, Russia has begun the repatriation of more than 6,000 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers, Medinsky said.
—Todd Symons, CNN Money, 7 June 2025
As Oracle Cloud Infrastructure also gains some traction on the periphery of this space, market watchers will need to start their analysis of cloud repatriation services with Nutanix alongside those public cloud offerings from AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform.
—Adrian Bridgwater, Forbes.com, 8 May 2025
In most cases, ICE never followed through with the deportations because the immigrants had lived in the U.S. long enough that their home countries no longer recognized them as citizens, or as is the case with Laos, the home country does not readily issue repatriation documents.
—Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2025
The November 2023 agreement between Italy and Albania allows up to 3,000 migrants intercepted by the Italian coast guard in international waters each month to be sheltered in Albania and vetted for possible asylum in Italy or repatriation.
—Arkansas Online, 12 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for repatriation
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Todd Symons, CNN Money, 7 June 2025
As Oracle Cloud Infrastructure also gains some traction on the periphery of this space, market watchers will need to start their analysis of cloud repatriation services with Nutanix alongside those public cloud offerings from AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform.
—Adrian Bridgwater, Forbes.com, 8 May 2025
In most cases, ICE never followed through with the deportations because the immigrants had lived in the U.S. long enough that their home countries no longer recognized them as citizens, or as is the case with Laos, the home country does not readily issue repatriation documents.
—Melissa Gomez, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2025
The November 2023 agreement between Italy and Albania allows up to 3,000 migrants intercepted by the Italian coast guard in international waters each month to be sheltered in Albania and vetted for possible asylum in Italy or repatriation.
—Arkansas Online, 12 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for repatriation
Cite this Entry
“Repatriation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/repatriation. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
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