As migrant return flows grow in complexity, the effectiveness of reintegration programming is coming under renewed scrutiny in Europe and Latin America. In Europe, the longstanding model of providing individual return packages—such as a small cash grant or temporary shelter—continues. But in an effort to make reintegration more sustainable, some policymakers are rethinking the future of this type of assistance and moving toward more coherent, development-based programming in countries of origin that can include longer-term reintegration support, psychosocial support, or help finding employment upon return.

Meanwhile, Latin American countries, some of which are facing the prospect of large-scale forced and voluntary returns from the United States, are navigating how to deliver meaningful reception and reintegration support despite financial and institutional constraints.

This conversation explores emerging models, policy shifts, and lessons learned from the European and Latin American approaches, as a means of shaping the future of reintegration support by international donors and others to strengthen service delivery systems, involve local actors, and address returnees’ evolving needs in ways that are grounded in real experiences.

The webinar is part of MPI Europe’s Community of Practice on Voluntary Return and Sustainable Reintegration, an EU-funded initiative supported by the Migration Partnership Facility.

The small island nations that make up the Caribbean are incredibly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Many people and businesses are concentrated along the coastline, exposing them to intensifying hurricanes and rising sea levels. Are these hazards prompting greater displacement, either within the region or beyond? And could they reduce tourism, prompting economic shocks to countries dependent on vacationers? This episode discusses these issues and others with Natalie Dietrich Jones, a migration expert at the University of the West Indies.

The global race for international talent has arrived. As populations in advanced industrial economies age and work evolves, labor shortages in critical sectors are increasingly driving countries to look outside their borders for workers. But in this context, who gets to migrate? And how? Crucially, can labor mobility be managed in a way that benefits workers, employers, countries of origin, and countries of destination alike? In this episode, migration and development expert Seeta Sharma shares insights from India, which is the world’s largest origin of migrants and leads in the export of physicians, for example. She unpacks the role of bilateral and multilateral agreements with countries eager to attract Indian talent and the implications of large-scale emigration for India’s economic advancement.