Return Migration and Psychosocial Wellbeing

Zana Vathi is Reader in Social Sciences at Edge Hill University.Russell King is Professor of Geography at the University of Sussex and Visiting Professor of Migration Studies at Malmö University.

• IntroductionThe interface between return migration and psychosocial wellbeing Zana Vathi, Edge Hill University, UK The forced-voluntary continuum in return migration Return to wellbeing? Irregular migrants and assisted return in NorwaySynnøve Bendixsen, University of Bergen, NorwayHilde Lidén, Institute for Social Research, NorwayForced to return? Agency and the role of post-return mobility for psychosocial wellbeing among returnees to Afghanistan, Pakistan and PolandMarta Bivand Erdal, Peace Research Institute, NorwayCeri Oeppen, University of Sussex, UKBetween ‘voluntary’ return programs and soft deportation: sending vulnerable migrants in Spain back ‘home’Barak Kalir, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Ancestral returns, adaptation and re-migrationRoots migration to the ancestral homeland and psychosocial wellbeing: young Polish diasporic students Marcin Gońda, University of Łódź, Poland‘This country plays tricks on you’: Portuguese migrant descendant returnees narrate economic crisis-influenced ‘returns’ João Sardinha, Universidade Aberta, PortugalDavid Cairns, University of Lisbon, Portugal‘Invisible’ returns of Bosnian refugees and their psychosocial wellbeing Selma Porobic, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Asylum systems, assisted returns, and post-return mobilities ‘Burning without fire’: the paradox of the state’s attempt to safeguard deportees’ psychosocial wellbeing Daniela DeBono, Malmö University, SwedenThe return of refugees from Kenya to Somalia: gender and psychosocial wellbeingNassim Majidi, Science Po, FranceTime heals? A multi-sited, longitudinal case study on the lived experiences of returnees in ArmeniaIne Lietaert, Eric Broekaert and Ilse Derluyn, Ghent University, Belgium Life-Course, family and health The need to belong: Latvian youth returns as dialogic workAija Lulle, University of Sussex, UKMigration and return migration in later life to Albania: the pendulum between subjective wellbeing and placeEralba Cela, Polytechnic University of Marche, ItalyTo stay or to go? The motivations and experiences of older British returnees from SpainKelly Hall, University of Birmingham, UK Charles Betty, University of Northampton, UKJordi Giner, University of Valencia, Spain ‘Is this really where home is?’ Experiences of home in a revisited homeland among ageing Azorean returnees Dora Sampaio, University of Sussex, UKConclusions Exploring the multiple complexities of the return migration–psychosocial wellbeing nexusRussell King, University of Sussex, UK

Return migration is discussed a lot but remains poorly understood in both academic and policy contexts. Engaging with the multi-faceted realities of ‘return’, this books offers a much needed critical view to return migration. Focusing on the psychosocial well being of the returning migrant the book challenges the dominant myth that return is a ‘good thing’. Contributions to this volume cover four continents and very different contexts of return (voluntary and forced, assisted and spontaneous) pointing to the agency of the migrant and to the role of volition in both returning and in seeking to escape (forced) return.Anna Triandafyllidou, Professor, Global Governance Programme, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University InstituteReturn Migration and Psychosocial Wellbeing sheds new light on classical themes in the study of migration, such as agency, home, and the life course. The book connects these themes with current theoretical turns and policy contexts. The focus on psychosocial wellbeing weaves together forms of migration that are usually studies in isolation from each other.Jørgen Carling, Peace Research Institute Oslo Readers who want to understand the policy and societal relevance of returnees’ wellbeing will find much in this volume co-edited by Russell King and Zana Vathi. The authors’ contributions accurately identify the various psychosocial dimensions inherent in returnees’ patterns of reintegration as well as their implications. To be sure, this volume clearly shows that it is still possible to reflect on return migration by critically examining and deconstructing predominant assumptions with grounded scientific evidence. Jean-Pierre Cassarino, Institut de Recherche sur le Maghreb Contemporain (IRMC)