Interrogating the Relationship between Remigration and Sustainable Return
| Author | Katie Kuschminder |
| Published date | 01 December 2017 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12378 |
| Date | 01 December 2017 |
Interrogating the Relationship between
Remigration and Sustainable Return
Katie Kuschminder*
ABSTRACT
Assisted voluntary return is a central component of many countries managed migration poli-
cies. Within these programmes achieving a sustainable return is a common policy goal, which
is often measured through remigration. In this paper, it is argued that remigration is not a valid
indicator to measure sustainable return. A new definition and approach to defining and measur-
ing sustainable return is presented based on a multidimensional return and reintegration index,
which is tested with a sample of 118 returnees in six countries. Due to small sample size a
chi-square test is used to examine the correlation between the return and reintegration index
and remigration intentions. The results demonstrate the relationship between having a concrete
remigration plan and the return and reintegration index is insignificant. This relationship
between remigration and sustainable return is further interrogated throughout the paper.
INTRODUCTION
Since the 1990s, Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) programmes, primarily targeted at migrants
without a legal right to stay in the country of destination, have increased in number and have
become a salient policy issue. In 2015 the International Organization for Migration (IOM) assisted
69, 540 individuals in their AVR programmes from 97 host countries (IOM, 2016). With the rise
in asylum seekers coming to Europe from the so-called ‘migration crisis’, AVR is re-emerging in
policy circles as a critical component of migration management. It is recognized that AVR is a
cheaper and more humane alternative to forced removals for migrants who do not have a legal right
to stay in the host country (Black, Collyer and Sommerville, 2011). Despite the increasing preva-
lence of AVR it has received little attention from policy evaluations and research (Paasche, 2015).
A common goal of these AVR programmes is to achieve a sustainable return (Kuschminder,
2015). Yet what this means and entails is often quite grey, as there are no agreed definitions of sus-
tainable return. One study from Austria has aptly made this point noting:
Sustainability of voluntary return is seen as the criterion for the success of a return project. But in
spite of this great importance of sustainability, return activities in Austria are not evaluated at all,
or if so, then only unsystematically. Moreover, it is not quite clear which definition of sustainability
prevails in Austria. (IOM and EMN, 2006: 46).
In policy environments sustainable return is frequently equated with the returnee not re-migrating
(CBSA, 2014; ICMPD, 2015). That is, remigration itself or intentions to remigrate are used as an indi-
cator to evaluate whether the AVR programme has been successful in achieving a sustainable return.
* European University Institute and Maastricht University
doi: 10.1111/imig.12378
©2017 The Author
International Migration ©2017 IOM
International Migration Vol. 55 (6) 2017
ISSN 0020-7985Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
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