People have always crossed borders in search of a better life. Aspirations and dreams, however, do not always come true. For some migrants, returning home is a logical, viable and desirable option.
Of the many migrants with whom IOM the Netherlands is in contact every year, a few thousand sign up for IOM support before returning home voluntarily. While the needs of returning migrants vary greatly, most are in need of some sort of assistance in the return and reintegration process.
This is why IOM continuously works on making its support for returnees as flexible as possible.
This booklet presents a small collection of stories selected out of the many return cases that IOM has assisted in recent years. Men and women and their children; young and not so young; from Africa, South America, Asia, the Caucasus or Eastern Europe; people with different skills and life plans. Each individual featured here has a story to tell: about achievements, but also about personal disappointments and concerns; about
reuniting with family and friends; about adjusting and starting life anew. Yet all these stories have something in common: they are as much about the present as they are about the envisaged future.
Going back is not as easy or simple as it may seem. Often it means starting all over again. The stories show the different ways in which these people have used IOM’s support to re-build their lives, securing an income by setting up a business or finding an employer, providing for the education of their young and taking care of their health.
IOM would like to thank them all for sharing their personal story and wishes them the very best for their future!
Martin Wyss
Chief of Mission
IOM the Netherlands
Download Seventeen Return Stories here.
