Many of the people returning to their country of origin are returning to areas facing multiple environmental challenges, such as land degradation or exposure to natural hazards, many of which are exacerbated by climate change. These environmental factors may or may not have been among the “drivers” behind returnees’ original decision to migrate, but they are increasingly likely to be drivers of re-migration. As such, actions which contribute to building resilience to environmental challenges in communities and countries to which migrants return are increasingly considered an important element for the overall sustainability of voluntary return and reintegration. There is also growing interest in exploring ways in which such actions can be actively supported through projects funded under reintegration programmes.

A number of environmental considerations are important for an integrated approach to reintegration, that “takes into consideration the various factors impacting an individual’s reintegration, including economic, social, and psychosocial factors across individual, community, and structural dimensions” (IOM, 2017). In particular, approaches can create synergies between environmental protection and the sustainable reintegration of returnees if they are focused on the “green economy”, that is, “an economy that improves human well-being and social equity while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities” (UNEP, 2011). For instance, returnees can be trained and employed in community-based climate-change adaptation projects. These can take employment-intensive “green works” approaches using locally available skills and resources, in areas such as agricultural land rehabilitation or water retention. Similarly, they can also support “green jobs”, which in turn support adaptation to the effects of climate change (ILO, 2016).

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Policy Approaches
Environmental considerations for an integrated approach to reintegration

​​​​​​1. Interventions at the structural level

  • Engage with local and national authorities and stakeholders to support the continuity of assistance through adequate local public services, for instance by:
    • Setting up a national coordination structure that brings together environmental actors with those working in migration management (including reintegration) and employment services or bringing environmental actors into existing coordination structures;
    • Supporting the development of partnerships (such as public-private partnerships) at national and local levels to promote employment options for returnees in “green economy” sectors.

2. Interventions at the community level

  • Explore employment opportunities for returnees in community-based projects. This can constitute an opportunity to address environmental challenges such as water supply, land degradation or disaster risk.
  • Involve local communities and returnees in identifying and formulating projects.
  • Ensure the projects also provide employment for community members, or other tangible benefits for the community (for instance, short-term employment may be created through implementation of the project itself, while longer-term opportunities may be created as a result of the project’s implementation)

3. Interventions at the individual level

  • Support employment opportunities for returnees in the green economy, in what concerns business development (“green entrepreneurship”), vocational training and insertion of returnees into the job market.
  • Seek opportunities for creating “green jobs” for returnees when developing partnership interventions at the structural level (for example, facilitate the placement of individual returnees in relevant training and employment opportunities, for instance in sectors such as recycling or waste management).

4. Mitigating the negative environmental footprint of reintegration projects

  • To avoid creating negative impacts on the environment, whether in rural or urban settings, such as through increasing demand on natural resources, carbon emissions, or waste to be disposed of:
    • Ensure all project proposals are “screened” using an established set of questions and criteria relating to environmental sustainability;
    • Use global and national standards for environmental sustainability in the implementation of projects, such as those relating to sustainable forestry or fisheries;
    • Take account of environmental criteria and standards in procurement, for example by prioritizing locally available resources when they can be sourced sustainably.
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