Overview

Project Objectives

• To examine drivers of return governance by focusing on (i) existing policy, legal and operational infrastructures, as well as (ii) the gaps between policies and practices to advance return governance indicators.
• To analyze enablers and barriers of international cooperation by (i) assessing various cooperation attempts of EU and its member states, targeting origin and third countries (ii) studying specific dynamics and drivers of South-South returns in connection with EU policies.
• To examine the agency of migrants and the autonomy of migration processes that influence and are influenced by governance and cooperation.
• To work with stakeholder expert panels to co-create and suggest alternative pathways and models for existing return policies, practices and cooperation in 12 countries that would contribute to understanding the interplay between policy and science.

Background

Return migration is a vital component of national and EU-level asylum governance as well as international governance attempts both in the Global North and Global South. Yet, despite its policy salience, there is a lack of an agreed definition of what a ‘return’ entails, with a wide variety of terms in use, such as repatriation, deportation, expulsion, readmission, removal, assisted voluntary returns, and pushbacks, among others. Adding specificity, nuance and empirical depth to these concepts is one of the major goals of GAPs. In line with Horizon Europe’s Strategic Plan, GAPs’ overarching ambition is to contribute to the development of resilient and sustainable governance and cooperation models for global migration and returns. Migration and returns require a comprehensive approach that should promote partnerships between a variety of stakeholders to ensure that migration occurs in an orderly and dignified manner.

The dialogues emerging from GAPs will contribute to (a) the development of new legal frameworks and policies, new synergies and strategies for facilitating safe and dignified return and readmission, as well as sustainable reintegration as stated in the Global Compacts; (b) the development of effective mechanisms for monitoring return operations both at the EU level and across member states, as well as in transit and origin countries; (c) the co-creation of a proposal for return governance indicators that will be linked to the International Organization of Migration’s (IOM) existing migration governance indicators; and, (d) the convergence and rapprochement between Global North and Global South that will result in effective and ethical cooperation models. By building a large consortium of universities, research institutions, and civil society organizations from European countries, Africa, the wider Middle East and North America, GAPs will contribute to broadening participation beyond Europe as part of a global research agenda.

Outcomes

• Develop an interactive data repository on returns, a return cooperation index, policy briefs and workshops
  
• Establish stakeholder expert panels
• Create a digital storytelling and video series
• Develop a MOOC
• Create open access policy and scholarly publications
• Disseminate findings through policy briefs, thematic reports, exchange workshops, dissemination tools, an anthology book of life stories, and a final conference targeting policymakers and key stakeholders