The efficacy of EU assisted voluntary return and reintegration programmes needs to be better measured

BRUSSELS – There has been growing interest within the European Union and among Member States in the return and reintegration of migrants determined to have no right to stay in the bloc. There has been a proliferation of assisted voluntary return and reintegration (AVRR) programmes and in April 2021, the European Commission presented its first EU Strategy on Voluntary Return and Reintegration, with the goal of promoting voluntary return and working with migrant-origin countries to foster quality reintegration.