Study on Monitoring Returnees
Message from ERSO 29-02-2008
Available on this site the report concerning a monitoring study on returnees conducted by the University of Amsterdam and the Radboud University Nijmegen.
Dear Sir/Madam,
On behalf of Cordaid the Netherlands and the Mediation Agency for Return I am pleased to present you the research report “Towards a better embeddedness? Monitoring assistance to involuntary returning migrants from Western countries”.
This study, initiated and financed by the Mediation Agency for Return, was conducted by the Centre for International Development Issues of the Radboud University Nijmegen and the Amsterdam Institute for Metropolitan and International Development Studies of the University of Amsterdam.
In our opinion the report contains useful information for our future work and in general we agree with the report’s conclusions and recommendations. The report’s content is constructive and critical concerning the reintegration assistance offered during the return process of rejected asylum seekers and it generates recommendations on how to improve our reintegration support for returnees.
From this research we draw the following conclusions:
1)In the pre-departure phase we will have to pay more attention to “the management of expectations”, i.e. it should be clear what kind of support we can offer to returnees and what the reciprocal roles and responsibilities are. We need to take into consideration that other organizations also inform potential returnees about our return and reintegration assistance.
2)Also in the countries of return, in agreement with our partner organizations, we will have to be clear about the facilities we can offer within clear time limits, yet at the same time we will have to remain flexible.
3)According to this study it is essential to offer more psychosocial support to returnees in the country of return. We will discuss this issue with our partner organizations in the return countries and create possibilities and offer support for methodology development.
4)The report indicates that the assistance of local partner organizations in the return and reintegration process is valuable but it also stresses the need to invest in these partner organizations. This recommendation is in line with our choice to invest in the capacity building of the partner organizations in the countries of return: from 2006 on, the Mediation Agency has been investing in partner organizations of return countries such as Angola, Azerbaijan, Benin, Bosnia, Georgia, Guinea, Mongolia, Sierra Leone and Vietnam.
5)This report also supports the Mediation for Return’s policy to discuss with our local partner organizations their network and referral function: to work efficiently and to avoid differentiation between returnees and those who stayed in their country, returnees will be referred to existing initiatives in the return country.
6)In accordance with this report we stress the need for a more humane and less restrictive migration policy. However, we would like to emphasize that this is not a new issue we are pleading for and that we in the past have always urged for a humane and less restrictive migration policy.
The report is available on this ERSO website (upcoming meeting/Erso Conference 2007) or the CIDIN site: www.ru.nl/cidin
Also on behalf of Joep van Zijl head of the department Cordaid Netherlands,
Kind regards,
Henk Hofsté
Coordinator, Mediation Agency for Return
