Enhancing the sustainability of reintegration schemes for migrants returning to Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal from the EU

Duration: 1 January 2015 – 31 December 2016

This project is co-funded by the European Union (European Return Fund) and the Italian Ministry of Interior, and aims at improving the sustainability of migrants’ return and reintegration in Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal for returnees who returned voluntarily from the European Union. To address the challenge of sustainable return and reintegration, which goes beyond simple individual reintegration assistance, the project operates at two levels:

• Individual-level by providing individual reintegration assistance
• Institutional level by providing training and material assistance to national and local stakeholders in the countries of origin potentially involved in assistance to returnees and vulnerable groups, aiming at strengthen their capacities to cope with this task.
   

Individual Reintegration Assistance

To be eligible, all applicants must:

• Be a national of the eligible countries (Morocco, Tunisia or Senegal)
• Have returned to the eligible countries listed above between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2016 from any EU Member State
• Have been selected for or already benefited from an IOM-run AVR (Assisted Voluntary Return) project – please note that the selection process takes place in the country of return and IOM Austria is not involved in it.

The reintegration assistance is provided in-kind and comprises:

• Counselling with IOM staff in the local IOM offices
• Assistance for vulnerable returnees of in average EUR 500 for:
  • Primary needs (food, temporary accommodation, etc.)
  • Medical and psychological assistance (medication, examinations, hospital fees, etc.)
• In-kind assistance for business set-up or growth for selected returnees who carry out or intend to establish a small economic activity that could generate employment in their region of origin or that has the potential to have an impact at the local level. The assistance is up to EUR 1,500 and can cover:
  • Business activities (rent of premises, business licenses, transport of goods, etc.)
  • Education or vocational training (fees, material, etc.)
• Trainings for returnees. For example, trainings on personal development and business management have been held in Morocco and trainings on business set-up and management have been held in Senegal. These trainings are independent from the in-kind reintegration assistance, which means even if a returnee is no selected for in-kind assistance he/she still can participate in training.

IOM Country Office for Austria recommends return counselors to provide returnees contact data in the country of return via the form “pre-departure screening form” (see below): only then can IOM staff contact returnees after their return. If these data are not shared with IOM prior to departure, returnees may contact the local IOM offices on their own: see contact details below.

The aim of establishing contact with the IOM offices is to enable IOM staff, who live in the country and speak the local language, to assess the returnees’ needs and determine if they can be selected to receive this assistance.

Institutional Assistance

In addition to the above mentioned individual assistance the project aims at strengthening national and local stakeholders and foresees following activities:

Promotion of cooperatives or other forms of collective reintegration projects as potentially sustainable reintegration options, in partnership with a national NGO (Morocco)
Assistance to local institutions supporting returnees or specific categories of returnees  to enhance their capacities (training, coaching, material assistance)
Enhancement of networking and exchange activities between the actors involved in supporting returnees (regular meetings, mapping activities, diversification of the information channels, etc.)
Cooperation with the private sector
Etc.

Contact data

IOM Morocco
Address: OIM Maroc, 11, rue Ait Ourir “Pinède”, Souissi, Rabat
Contact person: Mr Oussama El Baroudi
E-mail: oelbaroudi@iom.int
Tel: +212 537 63 06 83

IOM Tunisia
Address: 6 Passage, Lac le Bourget, 1053 Les Berges du Lac, Tunis - Boîte Postale 77
Contact person: Ms Nadia Cheikh
E-mail: ncheikh@iom.int
Tel: +216 71 96 03 13 / +216 71 860 312

IOM Senegal
Address: Route des Almadies Zone 3, BP 16838 Dakar-Fann
Contact person: Ms Salla Mbaye
E-mail: smbaye@iom.int
Tel: +221 33 869 62 00
 

IOM Austria
Address: Nibelungengasse 13/4, 1010 Vienna
Contact person: Ms Sabine Lang-Rosenfeld
E-mail: slang-rosenfeld@iom.int
Tel: +431 5853322 39 

For general information on the project, please contact:

Mr Cédric Dekeyser
E-mail: cdekeyser@iom.int

Or check the IOM Italy website.

Documents to download

Project leaflet (French and Arabic)

Pre-departure screening form (English)