What is return migration?
There is no universally accepted definition of return migration and, although return migration is a major component of migration, our knowledge of it is still fragmentary. However, the growing importance of temporary or circular migration programmes and expectations for the potential role of migrants in developing their origin countries have encouraged an interest in return migration (OECD, 2020). Return migration remains the least studied part of international migration, a relatively new area of migration that does not have a standard meaning in national or international policy or law. There are no accurate global estimates of return migration due to a general lack of data, and lack of agreement on definitions (Hall, 2017).
In the context of international migration, it refers to the movement of persons returning to their country of origin after having moved away from their place of habitual residence and crossed an international border. In the context of internal migration, the concept refers to the movement of persons returning to their place of habitual residence after having moved away from it (IOM, 2018). For statistical purposes, UN DESA defines returning migrants as “persons returning to their country of citizenship after having been international migrants (i.e., having established residence for the specified minimum duration) in another country and who are intending to stay in the country for at least one year” (UN DESA, 1998: 94).
What are the two main types of return migration?
There are two main types of return migration, namely, voluntary return or forced return. Voluntary return is “the assisted or independent return to the country of origin, transit or another country based on the voluntary decision of the returnee” and can take place either spontaneously, i.e., without assistance, through assisted voluntary return and reintegration, or through voluntary humanitarian return. Forced return is “a migratory movement which although the drivers can be diverse, involves force, compulsion or coercion” (IOM, 2023).