Why we need a national return and reintegration mechanism

By Hannah Gyamfua Mensah

On 5th February 2025, I wrote an article titled “The Need for a National Return and Reintegration Mechanism: In the Wake of Trump’s ‘Ghana Must Go’”, published in Business & Financial Times, where I argued that Ghana must begin to treat return and reintegration as an essential component of migration governance rather than merely an emergency response issue.

At the time, the discussion was largely shaped by concerns over possible deportations of undocumented Ghanaian migrants from the United States following renewed immigration enforcement conversations linked to new immigration policies. The article highlighted that beyond deportation itself, insufficient attention was being paid to the realities migrants face after returning home, particularly the economic, social, and psychosocial challenges associated with reintegration. Recent xenophobic attacks and anti-immigrant protests in South Africa, which have prompted the evacuation of Ghanaian citizens by the Government of Ghana, once again reinforce the relevance of that conversation.

The South African situation demonstrates that return migration is not only triggered by deportation policies from destination countries in the Global North. Return migration can also result from xenophobia, conflict, political instability, economic crises, and social unrest. As such, migration governance should not end at border management, deportation procedures, or evacuation efforts. It must also include how states receive and support returning citizens in rebuilding their lives.

Beyond Evacuation: The Missing Link in Migration Governance

The Government of Ghana’s evacuation efforts are commendable and necessary. States have a responsibility to protect their nationals abroad during periods of insecurity and violence. However, evacuation itself is only the beginning of the return process, thereby reinforcing the argument made in the earlier article for a coordinated national return and reintegration mechanism that extends support beyond immediate emergency responses toward sustainable reintegration.

Across Africa, migration policy discussions often focus on border management, labour migration agreements, anti-trafficking interventions, and regular migration pathways. While these areas remain important, return and reintegration governance frequently receives less attention despite its growing relevance.

Return migration is no longer solely associated with deportations. It increasingly includes individuals evacuated from conflict zones, migrants fleeing xenophobic violence, workers affected by economic downturns, and people displaced by environmental and climate-related shocks. As migration patterns become more complex, countries of origin must develop institutional mechanisms capable of responding to diverse return scenarios.

Many returnees often come back to disrupted livelihoods, financial losses, emotional distress, interrupted social networks, and uncertainty about their future. Some may have spent years establishing businesses, employment opportunities, and community ties abroad before being forced to return abruptly. Without structured reintegration support, returnees may face unemployment, social exclusion, psychological distress, and increased vulnerability to unsafe migration pathways.

This underscores the need to view return and reintegration not merely as humanitarian concerns, but as broader governance and development priorities. A national return and reintegration mechanism would provide a structured framework through which government institutions, local authorities, development partners, civil society organizations, private sector actors, and diaspora networks can coordinate support for returnees.

Reintegration as a Governance Issue and Lessons from Reintegration Models in the Global North

Return migration has become an increasingly important aspect of migration governance globally. Sustainable reintegration goes beyond physical return and focuses on helping returnees regain economic stability, social belonging, and psychosocial wellbeing within their communities.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) defines sustainable reintegration as a process through which returnees achieve economic self-sufficiency, social stability, and psychosocial wellbeing, enabling them to contribute to their communities without feeling compelled to remigrate under precarious conditions. Without adequate support systems, returnees may struggle with stigma, financial hardship, mental health challenges, and renewed vulnerability to exploitation or trafficking networks. Several countries in the Global North have incorporated reintegration frameworks into their migration governance systems.

One notable example is Germany’s “Returning to New Opportunities” programme, implemented through collaboration between the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The programme provides returning migrants with individualized counselling, vocational support, entrepreneurship assistance, psychosocial services, housing referrals, and post-return reintegration monitoring.

Similarly, the Netherlands’ Return and Emigration Assistance Programme (REAN), implemented with IOM support, combines return counselling, travel assistance, post-arrival support, and reintegration grants aimed at helping returnees achieve economic independence and social stability after return.

These programmes recognize that reintegration is a gradual and multidimensional process that requires coordinated economic, social, and psychosocial support. They demonstrate that effective reintegration governance requires individualized case management, psychosocial support, economic empowerment, community-based approaches,institutional coordination, and long-term monitoring of reintegration outcomes.

Ghana’s National Reintegration Framework

While Ghana’s migration context differs from that of European states, important lessons can still be drawn from these approaches. Reintegration should not be viewed solely as the responsibility of migrants after arrival. Rather, it requires coordinated systems capable of supporting returnees in rebuilding their lives, restoring dignity, and reducing future vulnerabilities.

A national return and reintegration mechanism in Ghana could provide a coordinated framework through which government institutions, local authorities, development partners, civil society organizations, and private sector actors collaborate to support returnees. The suggestion here is the need for a coordinated and multi-sectoral framework capable of supporting sustainable reintegration outcomes for returnees.

Such a framework could include:

• National identification and civil documentation support to facilitate access to services and economic participation.

• Referral systems for healthcare, education, housing, and social protection.

• Psychosocial and mental health services.

• Community reintegration initiatives.

• Livelihood and employment support, entrepreneurship and financial inclusion programmes.

• Data collection systems to better understand return migration trends and reintegration outcomes.

Looking Ahead

The concerns raised in “The Need for a National Return and Reintegration Mechanism: In the Wake of Trump’s ‘Ghana Must Go’” remain highly relevant today. Recent developments in South Africa further demonstrate that return migration can emerge from multiple and often unpredictable circumstances. Whether triggered by deportation, natural disasters (in the case of internal displacements),  xenophobic violence, conflict, or economic crises, countries must be prepared not only to receive returning citizens, but also to support their long-term reintegration and wellbeing.

Effective migration governance should therefore be viewed through the lens of the entire migration cycle, encompassing internal migration and external migration: pre-departure, transit, destination, asylum, return, and reintegration phases. This underscores the need for a coordinated national return and reintegration mechanism tailored to Ghana’s context and one that moves beyond short-term humanitarian responses to provide sustainable support. In this regard, I advocate for a framework that would strengthen reintegration outcomes while promoting social cohesion and long-term development.

Hannah is a Migration Analyst and Researcher with interests in Migrant Liminality and Precarity, Internal displacements, Climate Change, Migration Governance, Social Protection and Sustainable development. She is passionate about promoting inclusive, rights-based solutions to the socially vulnerable as well as human migration and its related global realities.

LinkedIn :http://linkedin.com/in/hannah-gyamfua-mensah-62a78934

Email: [email protected]

 

The post Why we need a national return and reintegration mechanism appeared first on The Business & Financial Times.

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