From Social Instrument to Migration Management Tool

Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes – The Case of Belgium

Dados Bibliográficos

ID11198519
AutoresIne Lietaert (0000-0002-1239-1315, Ghent University Ghent Belgium, autor correspondente), Eric Broekaert (Ghent University Ghent Belgium, autor correspondente), Ilse Derluyn (0000-0001-5450-1239, Ghent University Ghent Belgium, autor correspondente)
Ano2017
Volume51
Fascículo7
Páginas961-980
Data de publicação2017-12-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSocial Policy and Administration (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0144-5596 • E-ISSN: 1467-9515
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/spol.12185
OpenAlexW2271952918
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas26
Referências citadas46

The return of migrants to their country of origin and the development of efficient return measures have become more prominent on the political agenda of many Western European countries. Since policymakers prefer ‘voluntary’ return, governmental programmes to support the return of migrants – Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) programmes – were developed as far back as the 1970s and have played an increasingly important role in migration policy over the last three decades. At the same time, general migration policy and welfare systems have undergone profound change, including in the meanings and connotations attached to social welfare, return support and return policy. This raises questions about the implications of these broader societal and policy changes for the widely implemented AVR programmes. In this article, we discuss the interpretation and evolution of AVR programmes by analyzing how one particular European country, Belgium, has developed its AVR programme over time. We explore the evolution of the programme's content, target group and institutional positioning, which shed light on its changing goals and are closely linked to a broader shift towards a ‘managerial’ approach to migration policy and the welfare state. We argue that return support may become decontextualized when it adopts ‘conditional entitlement’ as a central principle. This leads to strong differentiation, based on personal responsibility, between ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ migrants, the levelling down of the support given to returnees, and a more coercive voluntary return policy in which social support is linked to deportation

Deportation · Economics · Entitlement (fair division · Immigration · Political science · Politics · Social policy · Welfare · Welfare state · Law · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Social Policy and Reform Studies