More than 69,000 refugees and migrants were supported to voluntarily return home last year by the UN’s migration agency IOM – a 39 per cent increase on the previous year, a new report reveals.

IOM’s latest ‘2022 Return and Reintegration’ report says that included among people assisted were 54,001 migrants assisted under IOM’s Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programs as well as 15,281 migrants assisted to return from the humanitarian contexts of Libya and Yemen under IOM’s Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) programmes.

The report, which outlines the trends of assisted voluntary returns, highlights a 70 per cent increase in the number of migrants in vulnerable situations who were assisted to voluntarily return from 4,446 in 2021 to 7,561 in 2022.

The proportion of migrants in vulnerable situations have steadily increased during the last five years, underscoring the need for specialised protection, the report says.

However, the increase in voluntary returns comes as a record 110 million people are currently displaced around the globe because of conflict, persecution or environmental disaster. 

“The reported increase of migrants in vulnerable situations in the 2022 Return and Reintegration Key Highlights underscores the importance of a rights-based approach in return and reintegration programmes and ensuring that tailored specialised protection is available to those in need,” said Yitna Getachew, Head of IOM’s Protection Division.

Geographically, the Middle East and North Africa exceeded the European Economic Area as the primary host region, accounting for 33 per cent of the total caseload.

Niger was the main host country with a total number of 15,097 migrants assisted to return, reconfirming the trend from previous years with an increase of returns from transit countries in other host regions outside of the European Economic Area. 

To ensure migrants have access to tailored support, opportunities, and follow-up to enable them to regain economic, social, and psychosocial stability in their communities of origin,

IOM says it provided more than 170,000 reintegration-related assistance either prior to return in the host country or after arrival in the country of origin. 

The report says returning migrants need access to tailored support, opportunities, and follow-up to enable them to regain economic, social, and psychosocial stability in their communities of origin.

The gradual easing of COVID travel restrictions globally has been part of the reason for the increased returns.

More than 98,000 people were supported to return home in 2016. The figure dropped 37,000 in 2020 because of COVID before recovering in 2022.

“The number of host countries increased from 125 in 2021 to 135 in 2022. Similarly, the number of countries that were both host countries and countries of origin increased from 120 in 2021 to 132 in 2022. The number of countries of origin also saw an increase from 150 in 2021 to 154 in 2022,” the report says.

Read the full report: Return and Reintegration Key Highlights 2022 – World | ReliefWeb