Return - IOM Publications - International Organization for Migration

Return Migration: Policies and Practices
Armenia (59), the Russian Federation (51), and Macedonia (72). A further 37 Afghan nationals
returned in this year, two of whom returned under the programme for the Return of Qualified
Afghans. Close to one thousand were assisted in 2003, many to the Kosovo province, Turkey,
Moldova, Iran, and Afghanistan.
On the whole, the diversity of countries of origin has increased from 36 countries in 2001 to
49 destinations of humanitarian voluntary return from Austria in 2003.
Lessons Learned
TABLE 3
GENERAL STATISTICS ON VOLUNTARY RETURNS
(VERIFIED BY BORDER GUARDS)
Year Number of
Assisted Voluntary Returns
2000 1,541
2001 3,411
2002 2,791
January – October 2003 1,791
TABLE 4
GENERAL STATISTICS ON VOLUNTARY RETURNS
(NOT VERIFIED BY BORDER GUARDS)
Year Number of
Assisted Voluntary Returns
2000 1,051
2001 1,020
2002 1,271
January – October 2003 1,076
2.4 BEST PRACTICES AND LESSONS LEARNED
Four developing trends that IOM wants to build on and/or strengthen are:
Regional migration processes, which can benefit from IOM assisted return services in a regional
context and/or as part of a comprehensive approach to migration management;
An increased recognition, by all concerned states, that origin, transit and destination countries
need to discuss and cooperate on return, readmission and reintegration, in order to find
fair, effective, and durable solutions;
A growing call for specialization of assisted return projects, with greater attention to migrant
counselling, reintegration and monitoring; and
The need for donor-funded return projects that facilitate return among “Southern” or origin
countries.
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