"REINTEGRATION: TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE RETURN"

Over the years, experience has shown that often return to the country of origin does not by itself resolve the migrants’ life situation. In order to effectively prevent returnees from pursuing migration options in the face of economic and social problems, it is essential to assist them in creating sustainable living conditions at home. It is for this reason that an ever growing number of countries of destination have been providing reintegration assistance to voluntarily returning third country nationals.

Reintegration assistance is always delivered in the country of origin after the return has taken place. It is usually targeted at income-generating activities and includes in-kind support towards:

- small business start-up or development (the most popular form of assistance);

- job placements/apprenticeships;

- vocational training;

- other forms of assistance, depending on the individual needs of returnees (i.e. relocation, temporary accommodation, education, childcare, medical or other necessary assistance for vulnerable cases, etc.).

IOM Vilnius has been providing reintegration assistance to assisted voluntary returnees from Lithuania since the beginning of 2010. To date, two reintegration projects - "Reintegration - A New Opportunity in Homeland" (December 2009 - June 2010) and "Reintegration in Countries of Origin" (July 2010 - June 2011) - have been successfully implemented under the European Return Fund (RF) Annual Programmes for 2008 and 2009 respectively. Within the framework of these projects, citizens of Moldova, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Iraq have been assisted with reintegration upon return to their countries of origin.  

In order to ensure the continuity and further development of the reintegration programme in Lithuania, the third consecutive IOM Vilnius reintegration project “Reintegration: Towards Sustainable Return” was launched in July 2011 under the RF 2010 Annual Programme. Project activities include:

• Assessment of the results of the completed reintegration projects; based on the findings of reintegration monitoring and evaluation, preparation of “Stories of Return”.
• Assessment of reintegration opportunities in countries of origin with relatively high numbers of returnees from Lithuania in which IOM Vilnius has not yet provided reintegration assistance; preparation of a feasibility study.
• Provision of reintegration assistance to returnees from Lithuania in their home countries.
• Organizing regional consultations for experts from Lithuania and the neighbouring countries aimed at discussing common challenges and seeking ways to address them, exchanging experiences and best practices as well as at strengthening cooperation in the field of reintegration.    
• Creation and regular updating of a database on beneficiaries of IOM Vilnius reintegration assistance.
• Preparation of a feasibility study on reintegration programmes for vulnerable returnees and/or families with the aim of ensuring that reintegration assistance delivered to these categories of returnees is effectively tailored to their specific needs. 

In the future, expansion of the reintegration programme so that more returnees could benefit from it is foreseen as well as further improvements in the mechanism of reintegration assistance provision.
 
 
The project “Reintegration: Towards Sustainable Return” is being implemented under the European Return Fund 2010 Annual Programme. Project duration: 1 July 2011 – 30 June 2012. Budget estimate: 200 497,69 LTL. Project activities are funded by the European Union and the Republic of Lithuania.

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