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During wars, spaces are created to deal with new situations: camps, humanitarian refugee centres, transit centres, security zones. Created as temporary way stations, they gradually evolve from vague groups of housing into quasi-towns, gradually taking on a more permanent existence. At the same time, refugee centres are required to “respect the right” of refugees to return home, or “fulfil their obligation” to send them back. These are presented as the only long-term solution for the reintegration of refugees. This article questions the original concept of identity, which underlies such policy positions, drawing on a study of an HCR site for Angolan refugees in Zambia. In response to the opportunity to return home following signature of the Angola peace treaty in April 2002, refugees reacted in a number of different ways and expressed a range of concerns which need to be taken into account. This article analyses their identification with a temporary home in exile and war-generated social structures, by the presence of humanitarian aid, and by social relationships developed in the camps – a living space, with a past, in spite of its inherent limitations.