Berlin – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, and representatives of the German Government joined a roundtable this week (30/05) to commemorate nearly 40 years of cooperation, to share information on assisted voluntary return programmes in host countries and to discuss support possibilities for reintegration in the countries of origin.
IOM experts from Albania, Afghanistan, Ghana, Iraq, Morocco, Pakistan and Turkey shared personal experiences from their work with returnees, many of whom come back home from Germany. They provided practical insight into local approaches to reintegration, such as the preparation of communities to better integrate returnees or pre-departure trainings for returnees. Based on best practice examples, IOM staff members from Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Switzerland and IOM Headquarters illustrated how migrants in host countries could be reached, informed and counselled about existing programmes for voluntary return and reintegration.
Since 1979, IOM and the German Federal Government have cooperated in the area of assisted voluntary return and reintegration (AVRR). Against the backdrop of this 40-year-long partnership, IOM Regional Director for EU, Norway and Switzerland Eugenio Ambrosi, said: “What began as a small project in Germany quickly turned into a model for similar IOM programmes in many other countries. Today, this an integral part of Germany's extensive engagement in the field of migration.”
Since then, more than 700,000 migrants have returned voluntarily from Germany to more than 100 countries of origin with IOM’s assistance. Between 2015-2017, the main countries or places that migrants returned to from Germany were Albania, Serbia, Kosovo (UNSC Resolution 1244), the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iran and the Russian Federation.

After a discussion with Regional Director Ambrosi, on the occasion of the roundtable with IOM experts, Dr. Helmut Teichmann, the State Secretary responsible for migration at the German Federal Ministry of Interior, explained: “IOM has proven itself over many years as a reliable partner of the Federal Government in the broad field of return and reintegration. We would like to thank IOM for this and look forward to future cooperation with great anticipation.”
IOM Germany Chief of Mission Monica Goracci stated: “IOM stands ready to further develop AVRR programmes jointly with the German government, taking into account the experience and capacities of IOM Missions in host countries and countries of origin in an ever-changing context.”
The roundtable on assisted voluntary return and reintegration, which was held in this format for the first time, emphasized the domestic, foreign and development policy dimensions. In addition to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development participated.
For more information, please contact Sabine Lehmann at IOM Germany, Tel: +493027877817, Email: slehmann@iom.int