Return promotion

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Return promotion is the promotion of the return migration of people to their country of origin. Funding can be provided by governmental or non-governmental agencies.

From a given country's perspective, return support programs must be differentiated according to whether they support the return of foreigners to their country of origin or a return to Germany:

  • Return abroad: As part of the refugee and migration policy, there are programs that encourage the voluntary return of those who are obliged to leave the country. In addition, refugees who want to return to their country of origin are supported; the possibility for this is expressly mentioned in Directive 2011/95 / EU (Qualification Directive) , Article 35. In the context of development policy, there are also programs for further training and the return of young academics from developing countries.
  • Return to Germany: In the context of labor market and science policy, the return of workers, especially the highly qualified, is sometimes encouraged.

IOM promotion of return

Rank (2016) Host or transit country Number of beneficiaries
1 Germany 54.006
2 Greece 6,153
3 Austria 4,812
4th Niger 4,718
5 Netherlands 4,536
6th Belgium 4.117
7th Yemen 2,559
8th Finland 2.116
9 Djibouti 1,803
10 Norway 1,496
Figures on return assistance by the IOM:
host or transit countries worldwide (as of 2016).
Rank (2016) Country of origin Number of beneficiaries
1 Albania 17,976
2 Iraq 12,776
3 Afghanistan 7.102
4th Serbia 6,978
5 Kosovo 5,889
6th Ethiopia 5,675
7th Macedonia 4,986
8th Iran 4,485
9 Ukraine 3,438
10 Russia 2,058
Figures on return assistance by the IOM:
countries of origin worldwide (as of 2016).

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) supports voluntary return under certain circumstances as part of its AVRR programs ( Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration Programs ). The figures given here in the tables are the result of the World Migration Report 2018 project , which began in September 2016 and the final report of which was published in November 2017.

Germany

Return abroad

In 2016, over 50,000 people voluntarily returned to their homeland as part of funding from federal-state programs; in 2017 there were around 28,000. No re-entry ban is imposed on asylum seekers who voluntarily return to their home country, as would be the case with deportation .

As early as 1975, the Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg, Hans Filbinger, suggested that guest workers willing to return should be paid return bonuses. This move was rejected at the time. In 1983 the Return Assistance Act was enacted, whereby the departure of unemployed foreigners from the Federal Republic was to be promoted for the first time by means of "return assistance".

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has been commissioned to implement the REAG / GARP1 and Starthilfe Plus return programs . There is no legal entitlement to return assistance. In May 2017, the IOM and the BAMF / BMI opened an online portal for voluntary return from Germany. In February 2017, representatives of the federal and state governments declared: "In order not to provide any false incentives, it should in any case be less than the amount of financial resources that would have to be used to enter Germany." They also agreed to to work towards comprehensive, early return counseling, which should take place both in the initial reception facilities and as part of the asylum application.

In Germany, voluntary return programs are also increasingly seen as development aid measures , as it is assumed that successful returnees can make a contribution to the economy of their home countries. In some cases, the IOM's funding programs are supplemented by aid from the federal states, which are intended, for example, to facilitate reintegration in certain countries of origin.

In January 2018, the criminologist and former Lower Saxony Minister of Justice Christian Pfeiffer called for greater investment in promoting return and at the same time better securing the European external borders. He bases his view on the results of a study presented by him and the criminologists Dirk Baier and Sören Kliem, which attributed a high proportion of the increase in violence in Lower Saxony from 2014 to 2016 to asylum seekers from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The authors see this as being due, among other things, to the lack of prospects for these people, who are made clear from the outset that they have no chance of a right to stay.

In certain circumstances, return counselors are unable to help the person wishing to leave the country - for example, if someone wants to travel to a third country where they have left their family behind but cannot get a visa, or if a young person is returning wants to travel to his family, but they live in a war zone.

REAG / GARP1

The federal-state program REAG / GARP1 offers organizational and financial support to those required to leave the country. Return travel costs are covered, travel subsidies are granted or start-up assistance of up to € 500 per person is granted from the age of twelve. Support is also given to those who migrate to a third country.

According to media reports, a return to a war zone is not funded by the REAG / GARP program.

REAG stands for Reintegration and Emigration Program for Asylum-Seekers in Germany , GARP for Government Assisted Repatriation Program . REAG / GARP is financed by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), the Federal Ministry of the Interior (represented by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees ) and the federal states.

For people from the (Western) Balkan countries who have been able to enter Germany without a visa for years (e.g. Albania, Serbia, Macedonia), the REAG / GARP funding program only covers the transport costs. At the beginning of 2015, this funding was also restricted for people from Kosovo with retroactive effect from January 1, 2015.

Jump start plus

Since February 2017, the German Federal Government's Starthilfe Plus return program has also provided bonus payments for the voluntary return of asylum seekers - especially for those who have not yet been expelled. The prerequisite is that the beneficiary is penniless and has the nationality of one of the countries specified for the program. People over 12 years of age who have made a binding commitment to leave the country voluntarily before the notification of asylum is received will receive 1,200 euros. Half the amount is provided for children under the age of twelve. Families with more than four relatives receive a supplement of 500 euros. Anyone who leaves the country after receiving a negative asylum decision and does not take legal action against the rejection will receive 800 euros (instead of 1,200 euros). Eligible to apply are people from 40 countries of origin that are particularly important in terms of migration policy. The amount of money is paid out in two steps: the first half of the amount is still in Germany (possibly at the same time as the simple start-up aid according to REAG / GARP is paid out), the second half six months after returning home.

For a transitional period, Starthilfe Plus offers an amount of 800 euros for people over 12 who are tolerated . Around 150,000 people are eligible to apply for this.

The Starthilfe Plus program does not apply to citizens of certain countries, for example the Western Balkans , or only the transitional arrangement applies.

Human rights organizations criticize the Starthilfe Plus program. Such initiatives fueled prejudice in the population. In addition, the program does not offer any effective help for reintegration into the country of origin.

In December, Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière announced further financial support to the media for a short period of time. Voluntary returnees in the Federal StarthilfePlus program were able to apply for additional "reintegration support" until February 28, 2018.

According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, 11,618 people took advantage of the offer from February 2017 to the end of March 2018; more than 1,500 of them returned to their country of origin before the end of their asylum procedure.

Return of foreign skilled workers abroad

Return of highly qualified people to Germany

The state of North Rhine-Westphalia offers a return program for the return of highly qualified young researchers from abroad. Research is funded by scientists who lived in Germany before their research stay abroad. German citizenship is not required for funding. The Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia has so far (as of December 2018) brought 32 researchers to NRW via the return program.

Starting in 2012, the federal state of Bavaria promoted the return of academics with the Return to Bavaria pilot program . After the program had a total cost of 1.1 million euros and 65 young academics returned in the first two years, it was stopped by the then Minister of Economics, Ilse Aigner .

The german academic international network (GAIN) lists a number of organizations that promote the return to Germany of scientists and academics who have been abroad for a longer period of time.

Return to Portugal

Since 2017, there have been more returnees than emigrants in Portugal. The government offers returnees a tax rebate, up to 6500 euros start-up aid and loans for the self-employed.

Return to Spain

In 2018, the number of Spanish returnees peaked at 83,728. The Spanish government is cooperating with the Volvemos initiative to make it easier for the “lost generation” who emigrated to Germany, especially during the Spanish economic crisis from 2008, to return to Spain. Advice, training courses and financial aid are provided.

Return from the European Union

In November 2017, the participants at the EU-Africa summit in Abidjan discussed an action plan to evaluate people from refugee camps in Libya. Politically persecuted people, the proportion of whom is estimated at 20%, are initially to be flown to the neighboring countries of Chad and Niger and distributed from there. The remaining estimated 80% are to return to their countries of origin "under the responsibility of the African Union and with the help of the international migration agency IOM". The EU is to finance start-up aid for reintegration into the domestic society in order to alleviate the loss of face for the returnees. The plan also includes opening avenues for legal immigration to Europe, as well as circular migration , in order to reduce the incentive of illegal immigration.

Return from Switzerland

In 2015, Switzerland made a financial bonus available to refugees returning voluntarily. This should represent "a humane, credible and also inexpensive alternative to a return with coercive measures" and at the same time offer the people affected a perspective on life in their home country.

Return to Russia

In the context of Russian criticism that repatriates, ethnic German repatriates and their relatives from the states of the former Soviet Union were inadequately integrated in Germany , the government of the Russian Federation passed a state “program for the permanent repatriation of Russian-native speakers living abroad to the territory of the Russian Federation ”(abbreviation: 'Compatriots Program'), which came into force in the same year. The aim was to promote the return migration of 300,000 people with Russian mother tongue from the CIS , Israel , the USA and Germany (ethnic German repatriates, Jewish immigrants and Russian citizens) by 2009. The media reported in 2013 about a later government program to return former Soviet citizens to Russia has hardly shown any success in its five-year term.

Return from the USA

Migrants on the migration route from Central America to the Mexico-United States border from October 2018 onwards were eligible for a US State Department-funded return program. As part of this, the International Organization for Migration has been offering participants to return to their home countries since November 4, 2018. It had been used by 453 people as of November 30th.

Return to Venezuela

In August 2018 Venezuela set up a “Return to Home” program, with which over 10,000 emigrants returned to Venezuela (as of December 2018). More than 9,000 other citizens of Venezuela have applied for a free return trip at the embassies and consulates. The emigrants are brought back from neighboring countries by buses and flights, and those who want to return in need receive help through a social program. The program does not receive any support from the International Organization for Migration, which runs its own program “Voluntary Return and Reintegration” in Latin America.

Web links

Germany:

Switzerland:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Directive 2011/95 / EU, Article 35 Return : "Member States can provide assistance to persons who have been granted international protection and who wish to return."
  2. ↑ a b World Migration Report 2018. International Organization for Migration (IOM), 2017, accessed on March 10, 2018 (English). ISBN 978-92-9068-742-9 . P. 27.
  3. ↑ World Migration Report 2018. International Organization for Migration (IOM), 2017, accessed on March 10, 2018 . ISBN 978-92-9068-742-9 . P. Ii.
  4. ↑ Anna Reimann: Asylum Balance 2017. In the normal crisis mode. In: Spiegel online. December 28, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2018 .
  5. ↑ How the state supports voluntary return. In: FAZ. December 28, 2016, accessed April 8, 2018 .
  6. ^ Hans-Peter Schwarz: The Federal Republic of Germany: a balance sheet after 60 years , Böhlau Verlag Köln Weimar, 2008, ISBN 978-3-412-20237-8 . P. 585 .
  7. ↑ a b c REAG / GARP. International Organization for Migration, accessed May 21, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Catiana Krapp, Florian Müller: Refugees: The main thing is to get out. In: Zeit Online. March 11, 2017, accessed on January 7, 2017 : "The rejected asylum seekers do not have a right to such assistance."
  9. ^ "Returning from Germany". Start of the pilot phase: new online portal strengthens orientation offers for voluntary returnees. BMI, May 11, 2017, accessed May 21, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Meeting of the Federal Chancellor with the heads of government of the federal states on February 9, 2017. German Federal Government, accessed on May 20, 2017 . P. 3.
  11. ↑ Meeting of the Federal Chancellor with the heads of government of the federal states on February 9, 2017. German Federal Government, accessed on May 20, 2017 . P. 4.
  12. ↑ Marco Funk: Who goes voluntarily? Training programs could convince rejected asylum seekers to return home. In: International Politics and Society (IPG). November 20, 2017. Retrieved November 27, 2017 .
  13. ^ A b Klaus Martin Höfer: Rejected asylum seekers. Return with dignity. Deutschlandfunk, January 6, 2017, accessed on January 21, 2018 .
  14. ↑ New study More violent crime due to more immigrants. In: Spiegel Online. January 3, 2018, accessed January 6, 2018 .
  15. ↑ a b c Interior Ministry launches new return bonuses for refugees. MiGAZIN, January 30, 2017, accessed May 20, 2017 .
  16. ↑ Escape to Syria: Germany does not support refugees willing to return. RT , August 19, 2017, accessed on August 29, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Return assistance to Kosovo suspended. BAMF, March 4, 2015, accessed January 20, 2018 .
  18. ↑ a b More support for voluntary returnees. Federal Ministry of the Interior, January 31, 2017, accessed on May 21, 2017 .
  19. ↑ a b c New return program “Starthilfe Plus”. SWR , February 1, 2017, accessed on May 20, 2017 .
  20. ↑ Additional bonus. Federal government starts return campaign for rejected asylum seekers. In: Focus. December 3, 2017, accessed December 5, 2017 .
  21. ↑ Reintegration support in the area of ​​housing in the federal program StarthilfePlus. In: Information sheet. BAMF, December 2017, accessed January 7, 2018 .
  22. ↑ Offer to refugees Extra premium for voluntary departure. (No longer available online.) In: mdr aktuell. December 3, 2017, archived from the original on June 17, 2018 ; accessed on May 27, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mdr.de
  23. ↑ 12,000 refugees receive an exit bonus. In: n-tv. July 5, 2018, accessed July 7, 2018 .
  24. ↑ a b return program. Ministry for Innovation, Science and Research of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, accessed on December 30, 2018 .
  25. ↑ The program to promote the return of highly qualified young researchers from abroad. Ministry for Innovation, Science and Research of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, accessed on May 21, 2017 .
  26. ^ Ralf Scharnitzky: "Return to Bavaria" initiative: The recruitment flop. In: www.sueddeutsche.de. June 26, 2014, accessed January 6, 2019 .
  27. ↑ Funding opportunities: cooperation and return. german academic international network (GAIN), accessed on May 21, 2017 .
  28. ↑ a b Steffen Lüdke, Helene Zuber: Young Spaniards and Portuguese: The lost generation is returning home. In: Spiegel online. September 14, 2019, accessed September 16, 2019 .
  29. ↑ Ralph Bollmann: EU-Africa Summit: Europeans want to fly migrants from Libya. In: FAZ. November 30, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2017 .
  30. ↑ Return assistance is an important element of Switzerland's migration policy. Federal Justice and Police Department FDJP, June 10, 2014, accessed on July 29, 2018 .
  31. ^ Albert Schmid: On the integration of repatriates . In: Christoph Bergner / Matthias Weber (eds.): Resettlers and minority policy in Germany. Balance sheet and perspectives . 2009, pp. 77-78. (PDF; 8.2 MB)
  32. ↑ Migration: Russia wants former Soviet citizens as workers. Russia Beyond The Headlines, September 18, 2013, accessed May 21, 2017 .
  33. ↑ Statement by Joel Millman unog.ch from 30 November 2018
  34. ^ Maria Müller: "Return to Home": Venezuela organizes free homecoming and relief measures. In: RT. December 30, 2018, accessed January 12, 2019 .