Connecting Reintegration Projects and Development Goals Improves Reintegration Outcomes for Returned Migrants
WASHINGTON, DC — While European assisted voluntary return and reintegration (AVRR) programs are meant to provide a safer and more dignified way for migrants to return to their countries of origin, their results have been mixed. The effectiveness of short-term assistance has been hindered by community and structural conditions in origin countries, including weak public services and limited opportunities in local economies.
Recognizing the need for sustainable reintegration, stakeholders in destination countries and origin-country governments are increasingly advocating for adding a development angle to reintegration support. By improving social and economic conditions for returnees and the communities they belong to, these efforts aim to foster long-term reintegration, strengthen social cohesion and have a positive impact on local development. However, the path to achieving these intersecting goals remains unclear and evidence is lacking on which approaches are the most effective, as a new Migration Policy Institute (MPI) issue brief makes clear.
In Linking Migrant Reintegration Assistance and Development Goals, researchers Camille Le Coz and Ravenna Sohst map existing approaches to connecting reintegration projects with development goals, as well as their limitations. They conclude with measures that could help future policies and programs overcome hurdles.
The main challenge, the researchers write, lies in bridging the gap between reintegration and development actors who have traditionally operated in separate silos. Most development actors have been hesitant to connect their work with reintegration programs, mainly because these programs are seen as an element of migration enforcement. And reintegration projects’ focus solely on individual assistance rather than wider societal benefits also has limited development actors’ interest.
Yet there are growing opportunities for greater cooperation between reintegration and development programs. Migrants’ countries of origin are newly prioritizing reintegration as they face pressure to provide support to returning nationals and strengthen community resilience. Some pilot initiatives have explored how to better connect reintegration and development goals, with community-based approaches for instance. Still, significant resources and political will are required to develop a common language and joint agenda among partners in countries of origin and destination, the issue brief notes.
The authors offer four key recommendations. First, improving coordination between actors across policy portfolios is crucial to align program objectives and responsibilities. Second, strengthening local ownership over reintegration processes is essential. Third, safeguarding the needs of returnees as a top priority is paramount, ensuring their vulnerabilities are addressed. Lastly, building a better understanding of how different reintegration approaches intersect with development goals through monitoring and comparative studies will contribute to informed resource allocation.
“If key trade-offs and long-standing obstacles to collaboration can be successfully navigated, new synergies between reintegration and development programs could result in more impactful and sustainable assistance for returnees as well as broader development gains,” Le Coz and Sohst conclude.
This issue brief results from a partnership between MPI and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Read the brief here: www.migrationpolicy.org/research/migrant-reintegration-development.
And for prior MPI-GIZ work, see a series on Critical Migration Governance Issues in a Changed World, which looks at implementation issues around the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, and Towards a Global Compact for Migration: A Development Perspective, meant to inform compact negotiations and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.