Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR): an Opportunity for Development?

This briefing explores whether assisted return migration programmes can have a positive impact on development in returnees’ countries of origin. It reviews the history of assisted return migration from Western European countries, and discusses the recent expansion of assisted voluntary return (AVR) schemes in EU member states. Subsequently, the briefing presents the findings of a recent study carried out by the Migration DRC in Sri Lanka, which focused on returnees who had used the UK’s Voluntary Assisted Return and Reintegration Programme (VARRP). Although many of these returnees had received reintegration funding upon their return, the majority of returnees were in precarious situations, as their small business ventures were failing to provide for themselves and their families.