The Effects of Voluntary Return Programmes on Migration Flows in the Context of the 1973/74 and 2008/09 Economic Crises

Abstract

The article analyses Spain’s voluntary return policies, including the programme instituted specifically to assist migrants affected by the 2008/09 crisis. Voluntary return policies were implemented in Europe in the context of the 1973/4 crisis. Just like the Western European programmes of the 1970s and the 1980s, the current Spanish voluntary return policies also only elicited the cooperation of small numbers of migrants and countries of origin. The article recommends four broader policy measures to tackle the emerging trend whereby a considerable proportion of migrants will stay in Spain rather than repatriate.

Evidence on Policies to Increase the Development Impacts of International Migration

“…French Francs to return to their country of origin for good (Plewa, 2012). The programs typically provide airfare, some reintegration assistance, and a lump sum resettlement amount which can be reasonably sizeable (e.g.…”

Trading Liberty: Assisted Repatriation in Liberal Democracies

“…More recently, 7,000 foreign workers applied, and 5,400 were approved, for Spain's ‘fully voluntary’ APRE programme as of May 2010; that is, during its initial 19 months of operation. Although this constituted only a small portion of potentially eligible applicants, the government considered the programme a ‘success’ (Papademetriou et al 2010: 109–110; Plewa 2012). Regardless of how success is conceptualized and measured, what is important here is that many such schemes advanced the recipients’ choice – a point I will return to in my discussion of Japan's Latin American workers.…”

Assessing the Effectiveness of Pay-to-Go Policies: Evidence from Spain’s Voluntary Return Program1

“…4 Specifically, participants in the voluntary return program received 40 percent of their accumulated unemployment benefits immediately, but they had to leave the country within 30 days. The remaining balance was received following their physical visit to the Spanish embassy in their home country (to provide evidence of having complied with the return condition), where they surrendered their Spanish identity and residency cards and agreed not to apply for a work/residence permit for at least three years (European Commission, 2012; Plewa 2012).…”

“…As a sweetener, the Spanish government paid the airfare for the applicant and his or her family, along with some additional expenses to defray the costs of traveling home. Despite the relatively large incentive (averaging 9,000 euros, excluding travel stipends), Plewa (2012) notes that the migrants who were the intended targets of the program (i.e., those with families and originating from less developed countries) proved less responsive than did other groups. Migrants with a family in Spain were, perhaps, more reluctant to take their children out of school to resettle in areas with potentially inferior educational systems.…”

“…This program does not have country of origin restrictions, and nationals from 84 different countries have used the program (please refer to http://extranjeros.empleo.gob.es/es/Retorno_voluntario/datos/2._A.Social_por_anualidades_y_paxses_de_retorno.pdf). Lastly, the Retorno Productivo program provides financial grants to some immigrants who return home with a business plan (see Informe País España 2012; Plewa 2012). From 2009 to 2014, only 693 immigrants were approved and used the Retorno Productivo program.…”