Return Migration and Reintegration Policies: A primer

With a global increase in the number of migrants and refugees, the issue of return migration has recently received greater attention. To date, return and reintegration policies have been shaped by increasing political emphasis on migration control, and tools such as readmission agreements. These policies rarely target sustainable reintegration. This primer aims to provide policy guidelines by considering the individual and structural factors which determine return and reintegration. The primer highlights the different perspectives and policy interests of countries of destination and origin, emphasizes the need for nation states to recognize returnees’ potential, and stresses the importance of inter-state cooperation in the field of return and reintegration.