As the EU moves towards a new common return system, three and a half years of research challenges some of the assumptions behind Europe’s return debate.
Rotterdam – The EU is moving towards a stricter common system for returning people back to their country of origin or to a return hub when they receive an order to return. The new framework aims to make returns more effective, by enhancing enforcement and cooperation between Member States.
But what happens when return does not work?It is questionable whether the new plans will lead to more return. The new plans assume that returns can be boosted by deterrence policies such as longer detention, deportation of irregular migrants to so-called ‘return hubs’, but the research suggests that assisted return policies are generally more humane and effective.
Researchers from the FAiR project spent three and a half years examining what happens before, during and after return. An important finding is that there are limits to what return policies can achieve: people may not return because of many reasons, such as safety concerns, lack of readmission, health or other circumstances. It also shows that what happens after return can determine whether policies actually succeed.
The researchers argue that the European debate needs to look beyond the question of how to increase the number of returns and consider what makes return policy work for EU Member states, but also for migrants and their countries of origin.
A new FAiR video brings this research into the public debate, explaining a complex policy area that is often reduced to numbers and political slogans.
Watch and share the video
FAiR (Finding Agreement in Return) is a Horizon Europe research project led by Erasmus University Rotterdam together with researchers and civil society organisations across Europe.