Developing lifeworld oriented perspectives for return migration: needs, vulnerabilities and support of refugees in Germany

The research report presents the results of the “Project Migrants Interested in Returning” (PRIM), which was carried out at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) in 2019 on behalf of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The study focuses on refugees from the 13 countries of origin of the programmme “Returning to New Opportunities”, which GIZ is implementing on behalf of the BMZ. Based on a quantitative data analysis of the target group and qualitative interviews with refugees and various support actors, data was collected on the needs, living conditions and future orientations with regard to the topic of return in Germany.

An analysis of the options of return as well as the respondents' own perspectives on a potential return is the main focus of this study. In addition, the analysis gains insight on the awareness and use of support services for coping with everyday life as well as the planning of a return. To adequately address the needs of the target group of refugees and to further develop the sector of return assistance accordingly, recommendations for the programme “Returning to New Opportunities” as well as for return policy actors were developed on the basis of the study’s results. The programme aims to facilitate a successful new start in the countries of origin. The central finding of the PRIM study is that hopes for a better future first require the development of return perspectives oriented towards the lifeworlds of the respective individuals.