Returning 'home': experiences of reintegration for asylum seekers and refugees

Social workers have a role in providing support to asylum seekers and refugees who are considering returning to their country of origin. To enable good support, a greater understanding is required of the experiences of those who return voluntarily, their difficulties of adjustment and reintegration back into their country of origin. This systematic review explores themes within eight qualitative studies of the experiences of asylum seekers and refugees who voluntarily return. It specifically focuses on the conditions that make reintegration back home most successful. There are three key findings: people need to be prepared for return, economically and psychologically; independent monitoring could protect returnees; and there are contradicting drivers between internal migration policies and return policies of EU host countries. Asylum seekers are ordinarily unable to work in the host country, which means they are unable to save or develop skills for return; these employment restrictions create dependency and corrode the resilience required for sustainable return. The findings of this review can be drawn upon as a model of discussion points between social workers and people considering return. It serves to highlight that return is not necessarily the end of the migration process for individuals.