The legitimisation of the policy objective of sustainable reintegration
Rossella Marino, Ine Lietaert
Abstract
The policy objective of the 'sustainable reintegration' of returning migrants has turned into a stable feature of migration management discourse. Despite being formally embedded in global migration governance and continuously used by policymakers and practitioners, sustainable reintegration remains an ambiguous expression, susceptible to be interpreted differently by the various actors involved in migration politics. Reviewing about 100 policy, research and practice documents addressing the topic in the last three decades, this chapter traces the emergence, evolution and consolidation of this policy objective, linking it to the concepts of normalisation, fragmentation and assimilation. We establish its evolution from being defined as the absence of returnees' re-emigration to incorporating economic and psychosocial dimensions. The chapter concludes by suggesting that the debate over the meaning of sustainable reintegration across sectors, geographical locations and actors be opened up, with a view to democratising migration management discourse in general.