29 April 2021

Dear John xxxxxx,

This week, the European Commission published its strategy on the return and reintegration of migrants, a key step in the implementation of the new Pact on Migration and Asylum and the development of a more coordinated approach to return. The policy document, which captures a rare area of consensus among Member States that have been at odds on issues such as shared responsibility and solidarity, highlights the importance of a credible return system as the premise to make legal pathways and asylum work.  

In a new Migration Policy Institute Europe commentary, Policy Analyst Camille Le Coz discusses one of the strategy’s key developments: the recognition that migrant-origin countries must play a key role in reintegration. Many Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programmes have long operated without closely involving governments, civil society, and other stakeholders in origin countries.

“The EU strategy comes with an ambitious agenda, but it is also a test as to whether European countries are able to present a common standpoint when engaging with countries of origin,” Le Coz writes. “This is a prerequisite to turn voluntary return and reintegration into a laboratory for meaningful migration partnerships, based on shared objectives with countries of origin.”

You can read the commentary here: www.migrationpolicy.org/news/european-strategy-voluntary-return-reintegration.

Sincerely,

Michelle Mittelstadt
Director of Communications
Migration Policy Institute Europe

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