The terms are used in slightly different contexts and can refer to:
The voluntary return of asylum seekers who no longer want to wait for a decision on their asylum application or who have changed their mind about the application and rather want to go back to their country of origin.
Destitute migrants, such as homeless people, who cannot afford the journey back home. Some homelessness charities provide funding for these journeys.
The "voluntary" return of rejected asylum seekers or irregular migrants to their countries of origin. Leaving voluntarily in this context can be somewhat euphemistic, as the alternative is often immigration detention and eventual deportation.
The most preferred of the UNHCR's three durable solutions for refugees because it is what most refugees seek.[2] Once the reasons for being displaced or having fled have disappeared and it is safe again to live in this country refugees are free to go back to their country of origin. The so-called returnees are still people of concern to the UNHCR and are, as such, under their legal protection. The UNHCR is monitoring returnee operations and offers support to returnees even after they have arrived in their countries of origin.
Some voluntary return programmes offer assisted voluntary return (AVR) and some voluntary return is spontaneous and independent without assistance.
"The sending state, in collaboration with the receiving state, must make adequate arrangements for the safe return of refugees who request repatriation, while the country of origin must facilitate their resettlement and grant them the full rights and privileges of nationals of the country, and subject them to the same obligations."[3]
Controversies
The UNHCR and the hosting countries usually encourage the refugees to return voluntarily. The 1969 Refugee Convention expects states of origin to advertise repatriation, by using the news and media as well as Organisation of African Unity, in order to invite refugees back home. Equally the host countries are expected to spread such information and to ensure it is received.[3] However, the information that is spread about the improved and safer situation in the country of origin may be exaggerated, blurred or untrue and refugees may be encouraged to return home before the dangers and risks are fully removed.
As refugees are protected from deportation (or refoulement) by the 1951 Refugee Convention, some host countries may indirectly force them to leave by gradually decreasing refugees' living standards and living conditions or by spreading lies about them to make them feel less welcome. This is similar to self-deportation.
In some countries, the IOM's programmes of "voluntary assisted returns" have been criticized. The "voluntary" nature of these returns, put forward in the media coverage of IOM interventions is considered as questionable, for instance in Libya.[4] According to the UNHCR, for whom "voluntariness is more than an issue of principle", if people's rights "are not recognized, if they are subject to pressures and restrictions and confined to closed camps, they may choose to return, but this is not an act of free will".[5]
Some countries offer financial support to refugees and rejected asylum seekers in order to facilitate the process of starting a new life in their country of origin. This could be considered as residency buyouts.
Support offered
The UNHCR and the IOM offer assistance to refugees who want to return voluntarily and to other people in need of support for returning to their home countries. This includes administrative, logistical, financial and reintegration support. Many developed countries also provide assistance and voluntary return programmes independent from the IOM and the UNHCR. Support includes making travel arrangements and paying for the journey. Support may also include financial support so that returnees can make sustainable investments and can build their lives again. Connecting people with networks and groups in the country of origin so that they will get support from local organisations.[citation needed]
When one takes part in assisted voluntary return programs (AVR), the applicant is giving up their claim as a refugee or asylum-seeker. Many times this includes a five-year travel ban restricting the individual from returning to the host country,[6] similar to deportation. According to interviews with IOM workers and files on return migrants who took part in their program, it is not uncommon for return migrants to feel pressured into applying to AVR programs due to financial hardships, lack of employment, fear of deportation, etc.[7]
Government policies and incentives
Europe
Belgium – Return and Emigration of Asylum Seekers Ex Belgium programme: This program is open to asylum seekers and third-country nationals who want to return to their country of origin or to voluntarily emigrate to a third world country. As this program is voluntary, one can retract their application if ever they change their mind. Applicants are offered travel support, including counselling prior to departure, assistance during their flight and travel cost. Applicants are also offered some monetary compensation to get them to their home from the airport. Financial support is also offered to aid in the reintegration process, partially funded by the European Return Fund.[8]
Denmark – with a history of financially incentivising the voluntary return of immigrants,[9] Denmark raised the amount to 100,000 kroner per person (around €13,000 EUR or US$20,000[10]) in 2009.[11]Peter Skaarup, deputy leader of the Danish People's Party, explained the scheme was aimed at immigrants from outside the EU and non-Nordic nations, targeting "nationals from non-Western countries who are struggling to adapt to Danish society". The Danish government also allocated 20 million kroner for city councils, to "motivate foreigners to return home".[12]
France – from 2005 around 3,000 immigrant families were paid to voluntarily leave France. By 2007, under newly elected President Nicolas Sarkozy, the French government started an enhanced scheme offering €6,000 per immigrant family to return to their country of origin. Brice Hortefeux, Immigration Minister, stated that France "must increase this measure to help voluntary return".[13] In 2016, in response to the European migrant crisis, the government had rapidly risen the offer from €350 to €2,500 per individual.[14] In 2017, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb reconfirmed the commitment to raise the monetary offer for immigrants to leave France.[citation needed]
Germany – with 35,000 voluntary returns in 2015, Germany allocated an extra €150 million over three years for migrants willing to return to their homelands.[15] The policy saw an increase to 55,000 repatriations in the first year.[16] In February 2017, under the 'Starthilfe Plus' scheme, immigrants were offered up to €1,000 each, or €3,000 to families, to leave the country and withdraw applications for asylum or residency.[17] As of October 2017, 8,639 immigrants had returned home via the government program.[18][19] In December 2017, under the slogan "Your country. Your future. Now!",[20] the German government began offering grants for new kitchens and bathrooms, as well as one year's worth of paid rent, in the country of origin of an immigrant choosing to return home.[21]
Ireland – in 2009, the Republic of Ireland government began offering repatriations grants to immigrants from nations outside the European Union to return home. The move was motivated by the Irish economic recession, with the EU-funded project attempting to "persuade foreign workers and asylum seekers to return to their country of origin".[22]
Italy – in 2013, the Italian government offered African migrants, mainly from Ghana, Libya and Togo, up to €500 to leave the country and travel onwards to Germany, France or northern European nations. Detlef Scheele, Hamburgs social affairs minister, dealing with multiple arrivals from Italy, declared that the immigrants had "no legal right to stay" and would return to Italy or back to their home countries.[23][24]
Norway – in 2016 the Norwegian government offered the first 500 asylum seekers to take a 10,000 kroner "bonus" to leave the country voluntarily, in addition to the 20,000 kroner already offered per person.[25]Sylvi Listhaug, Integration Minister of Norway, claimed the move might "entice" immigrants to "voluntarily travel back by giving them a bit more money on their way out".[26]
Spain – in 2008, struggling from recession and with unemployment towards 30%, the Spanish government proposed a 'Voluntary Return Plan'. Mainly targeting immigrants from South America, the Spanish labour ministry identified around 100,000 individuals from 19 countries which would be eligible for the scheme.[27] In 2011, Anna Terrón, Secretary of State for Immigration, claimed the scheme "helps everyone if those who want to return to their country of origin are able to."[28]
Sweden – in August 2007, the Swedish government began offering asylum seekers who were rejected permanent residency the equivalent of £3,500 per immigrant for a voluntary return to their country of origin.[29][30] This resulted in a record 4,542 immigrants taking part in the scheme, and returning home in the first 8 months of 2016.[31]
Switzerland – the Swiss government, following in the footsteps of Denmark, began a policy of confiscating any property of illegal immigrants with a value over 1,000 Swiss francs. However, the 2016 policy included an incentive for migrants to return to their country of origin, with the SEM stating that "if someone leaves voluntarily within seven months this person can get the money back and take it with them."[32][33]
United Kingdom – in 2006, asylum seekers and illegal immigrants were offered up to £3,000 per individual to leave the country. Job training, education as well as travel costs were included in the scheme, with an expected uptake of 3,000 people, costing the British taxpayer an estimated £6.2 million.[34] By 2010, the annual cost had risen to £16 million, with Immigration Minister Damian Green announcing a reduction from the 5-year delay on re-entry applications, to further incentivise quick voluntary repatriations.[citation needed]
Assisted Voluntary Return for Families and Children: This program is open to non-European people with children and lone migrant children. They are given a cash grant of £500 to relocate and £2,000 to reintegrate to their communities per person.[35] One can apply to this scheme before their asylum claim has been rejected.[6]
Assisted Voluntary Return of Irregular Migrants: This program provides help to illegal immigrants and immigrants who have overstayed to return to their country of origin. They are not offered monetary assistance.[35]
Facilitated Returns Scheme: This aids foreign national prisoners, once they have completed their sentence they are given £500 cash and a reintegration package of £3,000. If they leave before the end of their sentence they can receive up to £2,000 more.[35]
Positive Futures Project: This project is offered to young unaccompanied adults. After applying to an assisted voluntary return program, they can receive training to develop skills and gain additional education to help them build a home and have a career in the country they are returning to.[36]
Voluntary Assisted Return and Reintegration Programme: One can receive maximum £1,500 per person relocating to their home country. This program aids applicants with travel documents and booking flight.[35]
North America
Canada – the Canadian government opted to not renew their 'Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration' pilot program in early 2015, after an evaluation by the Canada Border Services Agency. The program sought to reduce the number of failed asylum appeals and incentivize voluntarily leaving the country, but didn't achieve all its objectives.[37]
United States – in 2018, the American government announced the end of temporary protected status (TPS) for 200,000 Salvadoran immigrants. The decision, implemented by President Donald Trump, gave an 18-month period for immigrants to find a legal route to staying in the U.S. or to return to their country of origin. The termination of TPS comes into effect on September 9, 2019, granting immigrants a grace period for voluntarily repatriation, before facing deportation beyond that date.[38]
Rest of world
Israel – the Israeli government withhold 20 percent of asylum seekers' wages, in an attempt to encourage individuals to leave the country, where they will have access to the funds upon return to their homeland. The scheme was launched from May 2016, and currently applies to asylum seekers from Sudan and Eritrea.[39]
Japan – after the 2008 recession, Japan initiated a policy of paying unemployed workers to leave the country, mainly targeting the Latin American Dekasegi population for voluntary return.[40] The incentivised scheme offered $3,000 (USD), plus $2,000 per dependent, and came with additional clauses that children of the returnee (second-generation immigrants) would not be able to later emigrate to Japan regardless of circumstance.[1]
UNHCR refugee return statistics
Voluntary return movements of refugees between 2014 and 1998[41]
End-year
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
Returned refugees
1,016,400
767,500
2,426,000
1,434,400
733,700
603,800
197,700
525,900
126,800
Voluntary return movements of refugees by country between 2014 and 2010
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with over 17,300 staff working in 135 countries.
A refugee, generally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution. Such a person may be called an asylum seeker until granted refugee status by the contracting state or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) if they formally make a claim for asylum. The lead international agency coordinating refugee protection is the United Nations Office of the UNHCR. The United Nations has a second office for refugees, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which is solely responsible for supporting the large majority of Palestinian refugees.
An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum in this other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and might have fled their home country because of war or other factors harming them or their family. If their case is accepted, they become considered a refugee. The terms asylum seeker and refugee are often confused.
Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the process of returning military personnel to their place of origin following a war. It also applies to diplomatic envoys, international officials as well as expatriates and migrants in time of international crisis. For refugees, asylum seekers and illegal migrants, repatriation can mean either voluntary return or deportation.
Afghan refugees are citizens of Afghanistan who were compelled to abandon their country as a result of major wars, persecution, torture or genocide. The 1978 Saur Revolution followed by the 1979 Soviet invasion marked the first wave of internal displacement and international migration from Afghanistan to neighboring Iran and Pakistan; smaller numbers also went to India or to the former Soviet Union. Between 1979 and 1992, more than 20% of Afghanistan's population fled the country as refugees. When the Soviet forces left Afghanistan in 1989, many began returning to their homeland. They again migrated to neighboring countries during and after the Afghan Civil War (1992–1996) but between 2002 and 2022 most have returned to Afghanistan.
An unaccompanied minor is a child without the presence of a legal guardian.
There have been many waves of refugees and emigrants from Iraq since the late 1970s until the present. Major events the modern history of Iraq resulted in the flight of what are now millions of Iraqis: more than three decades of repression and occasional violent attacks and massacres against the Kurdish population in the north and the Shi'a in the south perpetrated by Saddam Hussein's regime, the Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988, the 1991 Gulf War, the economic sanctions that lasted from 1991 until the toppling of Saddam Hussein, and the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
Afghans in Pakistan are temporary residents from Afghanistan who are registered in Pakistan as asylum seekers fleeing the Afghanistan conflict, as part of the global wave of Afghan refugees since 1978. They fall under the jurisdiction of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Most present-day Afghan registered refugees in Pakistan have been born and raised within Pakistan's borders during the last four decades. Additionally, there are also applicants of the Special Immigrant Visa who are awaiting the process for emigration to the United States. Many Afghans in Pakistan receive financial support from family members in the Afghan diaspora.
Afghan diaspora refers to the Afghan people that reside and work outside of Afghanistan. They include citizens of Afghanistan who have immigrated to other countries. The majority of the diaspora has been formed by Afghan refugees since the start of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979; the largest numbers temporarily reside in Iran and Pakistan. As stateless refugees or asylum seekers, they are protected by the well-established non-refoulement principle and the U.N. Convention Against Torture. The ones having at least one American parent are further protected by United States laws.
Sudanese refugees in Israel refers to citizens of Sudan who have sought refuge in Israel due to military conflict at home, and to those who moved there illegally as migrant workers. In 2008, there were 4,000 Sudanese in Israel, 1,200 from Darfur and the remainder Christians from South Sudan. The majority entered through the Israeli-Egypt border. Most live in Tel Aviv, Arad, Eilat and Bnei Brak.
Iraqis in Turkey includes Turkish citizens of Iraqi origin, Iraqi-born citizens and Iraqi expat workers.
African immigration to Israel is the international movement to Israel from Africa of people that are not natives or do not possess Israeli citizenship in order to settle or reside there. This phenomenon began in the second half of the 2000s, when a large number of people from Africa entered Israel, mainly through the then-lightly fenced border between Israel and Egypt in the Sinai Peninsula. According to the data of the Israeli Interior Ministry, 26,635 people arrived illegally in this way by July 2010, and over 55,000 by January 2012. In an attempt to curb the influx, Israel constructed the Egypt–Israel barrier. Since its completion in December 2013, the barrier has almost completely stopped the immigration of Africans into Israel across the Sinai border.
Sudanese refugees are persons originating from the country of Sudan, but seeking refuge outside the borders of their native country. In recent history, Sudan has been the stage for prolonged conflicts and civil wars, as well as environmental changes, namely desertification. These forces have resulted not only in violence and famine but also the forced migration of large numbers of the Sudanese population, both inside and outside the country's borders. Given the expansive geographic territory of Sudan, and the regional and ethnic tensions and conflicts, much of the forced migration in Sudan has been internal. Yet, these populations are not immune to similar issues that typically accompany refugeedom, including economic hardship and providing themselves and their families with sustenance and basic needs. With the creation of a South Sudanese state, questions surrounding southern Sudanese IDPs may become questions of South Sudanese refugees.
Refugees of the Syrian Civil War are citizens and permanent residents of Syria who have fled the country over the course of the Syrian Civil War. The pre-war population of the Syrian Arab Republic was estimated at 22 million (2017), including permanent residents. Of that number, the United Nations (UN) identified 13.5 million (2016) as displaced persons, requiring humanitarian assistance. Of these, since the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2011 more than six million (2016) were internally displaced, and around five million (2016) had crossed into other countries, seeking asylum or placed in Syrian refugee camps worldwide. It is often described as one of the largest refugee crises in history.
The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to request asylum, the most in a single year since World War II. Those requesting asylum in Europe in 2015 were mostly Syrians, but also included significant numbers of Afghans, Nigerians, Pakistanis, Iraqis and Eritreans, as well as economic migrants from the Balkans.
A refugee crisis can refer to difficulties and dangerous situations in the reception of large groups of forcibly displaced persons. These could be either internally displaced, refugees, asylum seekers or any other huge groups of migrants.
Immigration detention of refugee and asylum seeking children in Thailand violates the rights of children under international law. The undocumented migrant children are detained for indefinite and prolonged periods without proper access to legal support. Thailand is key transit route, host and final destination for refugees seeking asylum in southeast Asia and Australia. During the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) session in May 2016, various human rights issues including detention of refugee and asylum seeking children were reported. Currently, there are no effective alternatives to immigration detention and all sectors of population including children are subject to detention.
The term, non-Jewish African refugees, primarily refers to the Sudanese and Eritrean refugee population migrating to Israel through the Sinai Desert. Israeli policy concerning these refugees has evolved from a policy of neutrality to a policy of deterrence. These refugees began arriving in Israel in the 21st century, led by Bedouin smugglers. The current non-Jewish African refugee population in Israel is approximately 36,000.
The migration of Ghanaians to Germany started in the early 1950s when a West Germany policy permitted the travel of students from some African countries to Germany to further their education. This policy was to equip the students with knowledge which would be useful in their country of origin when they eventually returned.
The Rwanda asylum plan, officially the UK and Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership, also known as the Rwanda asylum scheme, Rwanda plan and Rwanda deal, is an immigration policy first proposed by the British government, whereby individuals identified by the United Kingdom as being illegal immigrants or asylum seekers will be relocated to Rwanda for processing, asylum and resettlement. Those successful in claiming asylum will remain in Rwanda and not be permitted to return to the United Kingdom.
1 2 Encinas, Monica (May 2016). "Assisted Voluntary Return: implications for women and children". Forced Migration Review. 1: 84–86.
↑ Leekes, Arjen (November 2017). "What drives 'soft deportation'? Understanding the rise in Assisted Voluntary Return among rejected asylum seekers in the Netherlands". Population Space and Place. 23.
↑ Lietaert, Ine (December 2017). "From Social Instrument to Migration Management Tool: Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes - The Case of Belgium". Social Policy and Administration. 51 (7): 961–980. doi:10.1111/spol.12185.
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