Report | Doc. 12277 | 04 June 2010
Voluntary return programmes: an effective, humane and cost-effective mechanism for returning irregular migrants
(Former) Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population
Summary
With around 10 million irregular migrants in Council of Europe member states, Europe needs to find effective return mechanisms which balance the needs of member states and the human rights of irregular migrants.
Voluntary return programmes for irregular migrants offer an alternative to forced return. Voluntary return is not only more humane, it is also cheaper than forced return (in certain studies one third the cost). Where the voluntary return is accompanied by reintegration assistance it is also much more attractive to potential returnees, conducive to sustainable return and can contribute to development in the country of origin.
Member states of the Council of Europe are encouraged to promote assisted voluntary programmes, using the good offices of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). In order to increase the number of voluntary returns, member states should open the programmes up to a wider categories of persons, for example including not only failed asylum seekers but all irregular migrants, and step up information campaigns for prospective returnees. Care should, however, be taken to ensure that returns are “voluntary” and that return programmes are monitored for their effectiveness.
The Committee of Ministers has already prepared “Twenty Guidelines on Forced Returns” adopted in May 2005 which have had a notable impact in member states and in human rights circles. The Committee of Ministers is strongly encouraged to prepare similar guidelines for assisted voluntary returns.
A. Draft resolution
(open)B. Draft recommendation
(open)C. Explanatory memorandum by Ms Türköne, rapporteur
(open)1. Introduction
2. Assisted voluntary return programmes: what are they?
2.1. Pre-departure
2.2. Transportation
2.3. Post-arrival
3. How effective have these programmes been in terms of numbers of persons returning, the costs involved and the sustainability of the returns?
3.1. Numbers returning
3.2. Costs
3.3. Sustainability
4. How to improve assisted voluntary return programmes
4.1. Voluntariness
4.2. Assisted voluntary return of irregular migrants from detention centres
4.3. Vulnerable groups
4.4. Re-entry bans
4.5. Co-operation between host country and destination country governments
4.6. Some concerns of returnees
4.7. Dealing with some of the populist criticisms
5. Conclusions
Appendix – Country profiles
(open)1. United Kingdom
The International Organization for Migration operates two large assisted voluntary return programmes in the United Kingdom. Between 1999 and 2009, the programmes have helped over 30 000 people to return to over 130 countries. The programmes are co-funded, on the one hand, by the European Refugee Fund III, the European Return Fund and the European Integration Fund of the European Union and the United Kingdom Home Office on the other. The largest number of returns over this period was to Iraq (4 536), Albania (4 021) and Afghanistan (2 320).
The Voluntary Assisted Return and Reintegration Programme (VAARP) assists asylum seekers whose application for asylum are pending, rejected, under appeal, or finally rejected, or who have been granted exceptional leave to remain. The United Kingdom Home Office determines whether an applicant qualifies for the programme.
VAARP assists returnees in obtaining travel documents, arranges and pays for flights, offers assistance at the airports of departure and/or arrival, and co-ordinates travel to the returnees’ “home doorstep” within the destination country. VAARP participants also receive cash grants at the airport in the United Kingdom, after they have withdrawn any outstanding applications for residence in the United Kingdom and additional reintegration assistance is available to VAARP participants once they have returned to their countries of origin.
In late 2007, the IOM UK created a new approach to assisted voluntary return based less on “one size fits all” than on the needs and preferences of individual returnees. Each prospective returnee is involved in creating a detailed plan for his or her reintegration in their home country thus helping make the transition easier for returnees when they arrive.
Under these individual return plans the type of reintegration offered to individuals includes:
Resettlement needs:
Relocation grant at pre-departure (£500)
baggage allowance
Temporary housing
up to three months, accommodation
A choice of:
education:
- schooling fees (primary and secondary or university)
- childcare fees for infants
vocational training:
- fees for up to 2 months of vocational training
business set up:
- training for the breadwinner, two weeks up to one month, with subsistence
- financial support for the purchase of equipment or supplies for the business (up to £1 500)
- an additional £500 support in kind – after six months’ review of the business
job placements:
- salary and support for the initial three months of an agreed twelve-month contract with an identified employer
It is the opinion of the IOM and the British Home Office that this type of assistance is more effective in promoting sustainable returns than cash alone.
Reintegration assistance was introduced in 2002 at a value of £500. This was increased in 2005 to £1 000 and then £3 000 in 2006. It is available to each family member including children.
The assistance does not cover medical or accommodation expenses, except in the case of returnees from vulnerable groups, such as unaccompanied minors.
VAARP has offices in London, Liverpool, Glasgow and Bristol and works with the non-governmental organisations Refugee Action, North of England Refugee Services, Safe Haven Yorkshire, and Refugee and Migrant Centre.
A second programme operated in the United Kingdom is the Assisted Voluntary Return for Irregular Migrants (AVRIM) programme which assists those who do not quality for VAARP, including those who have overstayed their visas or were victims of trafficking or otherwise entered the United Kingdom illegally. The United Kingdom Home Office will not prosecute people wishing to return to their home countries for minor immigration offences committed when entering the United Kingdom. Returnees must have some sort of travel documentation. The IOM UK will arrange and pay for flights and co-ordinate transportation to the returnee’s “home doorstep,” but reintegration assistance is not usually available. The exception is for vulnerable persons such as victims of trafficking, unaccompanied minors and the disabled who may receive reintegration assistance of up to £1 000 in kind.
Failed asylum seekers who do not leave the United Kingdom during a specified period of time can be detained by the British Government and forcibly removed from the country. In an effort to make this removal more dignified and less costly, the IOM UK offers assisted voluntary return from detention. (Detainees who were failed asylum seekers return under the VARRP with reintegration assistance while detainees who never touched the asylum system travel as normal passengers in a dignified manner (under the AVRIM programme) but do not generally receive any post-arrival reintegration assistance.)
A further programme run in the United Kingdom is the Facilitated Return Scheme (FRS) designed to help foreign national prisoners return home and build a better life. This is available to all non-European Economic Area foreign national prisoners. They can get early removal up to 270 days before the end of their sentence and a package of up to £5 000 if they return whilst serving their sentence or up to £3 000 if they apply after their sentence has been served.
The British National Audit Office has shown that assisted voluntary return makes economic sense. The cost of voluntary return with reintegration assistance is less than one third of the cost of compulsory removal, which costs the British tax payer £11 000 per head. More recent estimates indicate that a forced return costs between £11 000 and £25 600, whereas voluntary return can vary for an individual between £600 (travel costs only) and £5 000 (including reintegration assistance).
2. The Netherlands
The International Organization for Migration in the Netherlands offers several options for voluntary return. The largest programme, Return and Emigration of Aliens from the Netherlands (REAN), has been in existence since 1992 and has assisted more than 24 000 persons to return to third countries or their countries or origin since 1998.
Persons who are eligible to participate in the REAN programme include those who entered the Netherlands with the intention of living in that country in the long term and who agree to withdraw any applications or permits regarding immigration and naturalisation, or residence, in the Netherlands. Participants must be unable to pay for their return journey and must intend to leave the Netherlands permanently.
Returnees who meet all of the above conditions are eligible to receive some or all of the following forms of assistance: information on return issues, airport assistance prior to departure and upon arrival, financial reimbursement for expenses associated with the procurement of travel documents, airline tickets and other transportation arrangements. Financial assistance is also available to returnees who have applied for residence in the Netherlands to encourage their reintegration in the country of origin. The amount of financial assistance available depends on the returnee’s legal status in the Netherlands.
In an effort to avoid repeat participants in the REAN programme, applicants must not have left the Netherlands with the help of the programme or at the expense of the Dutch Government during the previous five years. The programme is funded by the Ministry of Justice.
A second programme offered in the Netherlands is the Return and Reintegration Regulation scheme. This programme targets aliens who applied for asylum in the Netherlands before 1 January 2008 and offers to returnees additional financial contributions of €1 750 per adult and €895 per minor.
The International Organization for Migration in the Netherlands is currently temporarily offering an assisted voluntary return programme for migrants in detention, financed by the European Return Fund. As voluntary return is less expensive for the host country than detention and forced return, the IOM has expanded its efforts to inform detainees about this option, particularly at the Rotterdam and Alphen aan den Rijn detention centres. They offer counselling, support with travel documents and facilitate the departure at the airport. Less time is spent in detention and a dignified return is possible. IOM has expanded its efforts to inform detainees about this option in all detention centres for aliens.
Another programme offered in the Netherlands is the Return Initiative Irregular Migrants (RIIM) programme, which is available to irregular migrants who are in the Netherlands. One unique feature of this programme is the availability of “native counsellors,” persons from various countries of origin who communicate with irregular migrants in their own language and explain the option of voluntary return as an alternative to living in the Netherlands as an illegal alien. The IOM also co-operates with various non-governmental and migrant organisations that support irregular migrants.
The IOM in the Netherlands also provides additional support to returnees from vulnerable groups, including unaccompanied minors, migrants with health problems and victims of human trafficking. Assistance is made available based on the particular needs of individual returnees and may include financial support, tracing of family or friends in the country of origin, language courses, translation of important documents, assistance in making contacts with health organisations in the country of origin and the arrangement of temporary accommodation. For persons with chronic diseases, the REAN programme can offer the opportunity to receive reintegration grants in kind that support the returnee to build up a livelihood after return in order to cater for medical needs. The availability of this assistance depends on medical assessments and reports provided to the IOM.
3. Switzerland
Assisted voluntary return from Switzerland is co-ordinated by the Return Assistance Section of the Federal Office of Migration (FOM). Its programmes are implemented by the International Organization for Migration in Bern. The FOM also works with the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation. Co-ordination among these agencies is managed by the Interdepartmental Steering Group on Return Assistance.
From 1997 to 2007, approximately 65 000 persons voluntarily returned to their countries of origin using return assistance. Today, approximately 130 persons return each month. In addition to individual assisted voluntary returns, Switzerland also manages nine country- or region-specific programmes, which help migrants return to Georgia, Iraq, Nigeria, Guinea, and the Western Balkans. All costs of these programmes are covered by the Swiss Federal Government.
Persons eligible for assisted voluntary return in Switzerland include asylum seekers and refugees, regardless of their application status. Certain types of “foreign nationals”, such as victims of human trafficking, are also eligible. Immigrants wishing to return to their countries of origin may be eligible for limited return assistance. Because Switzerland is a federal state, return assistance responsibility for “foreign nationals”/irregular migrants is at the cantonal level. Two cantons have developed return assistance projects for this target group also implemented by the IOM. Other cantons operate on a case-by-case basis and mandate the IOM for return or reintegration assistance in these cases. Return assistance is not available to convicted offenders or to persons “who have misused the asylum system”.
The first stage of Swiss assisted voluntary return is implemented at the cantonal level through the Return Counselling Services (RCS), a network of agencies responsible for conveying information to prospective returnees. The RCS, which includes both cantonal migration departments and NGOs, assists prospective returnees in planning their return and reintegration into their country of origin. Meetings with the RCS are confidential and do not require any commitment to participate in the programme. The RCS encourages individual returnees to take the lead in developing return and reintegration plans and to take responsibility for the success or failure of the plans. The IOM provides the RCS with country-specific information, such as housing costs and the availability of medical care, as well as more general information about the country’s political and economic situation, so that the prospective returnee can make an informed decision. When an RCS and a prospective returnee agree upon a return plan, it must be submitted to the Federal Office of Migration for approval and implementation.
Financial assistance is available to all returnees who have applied for asylum in Switzerland. The Federal Office of Migration pays for the return journey and offers a standard cash allowance of up to 1 000 Swiss francs for adults and 500 Swiss francs for minors. The amount of return assistance available to a returnee depends partially on the duration of his or her stay in Switzerland. As of 2001, returnees may also receive an additional 3 000 Swiss francs for a social or professional reintegration project. Depending on the individual medical needs of the returnee, he or she may also be eligible for an allowance to cover medical expenses, such as medicines and/or a medical escort during the return journey.
Switzerland’s individually tailored return assistance scheme has been effective in reducing the number of programme participants who then re-migrate back to Switzerland. The percentage of returnees who benefit from personalised reintegration assistance and then re-migrated back to Switzerland is one quarter of the rate of returnees who received only the standard assistance package.
In addition to individual return assistance, the Federal Office of Migration also manages and funds structural aid projects in certain countries. These programmes assist not only returnees, but also the local population and authorities. They include activities such as job development and the construction of schools or medical facilities. The goal of such programmes is to improve local infrastructure and discourage irregular migration from these countries in the future.