IOM’s assisted return activities have become an indispensable part of ensuring the integrity of regular migration. They are part of a comprehensive approach to migration management, which includes timely asylum adjudication, effective removals of irregular migrants, regular migration options and accurate public information on those options. When implemented quickly, they can also be an effective deterrent to irregular migration.

AVR advantages all players on the origin-transit-destination spectrum: for the migrant it is an humane alternative to deportation; for the country of destination it is more cost effective and administratively expedient than forced return; and for the country of origin, and its bilateral relations with the country of destination, it is politically more palatable and less sensitive than the return of émigrés “in shackles” whilst significantly facilitating the reintegration of their nationals.