Browsing by Subject "assisted voluntary return"

According to the Treaty of the European Union, the Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity. Human dignity has a special nature as the primary foundation of universal human rights since it offers a moral source for these rights. However, the concept of human dignity is ambiguous, vague and remains fluctuating. Regarding the concept of human dignity, what is certain is its exceptional importance and its role as a core value of the universal human rights system. Human dignity is also highlighted in the European migration governance framework. The EU return policy, including the Return Directive, emphasises that the goal of these policies is to ensure full respect for the human dignity of third-country nationals residing in the EU. Despite the concept of the dignified return being underlined to exhaustion in various policy papers, its meaning in the context of migration governance remains imprecise. This thesis examines the EU return policy, focusing on the returns of third-country nationals who are residing in the EU without permission. It focuses on the assisted voluntary return and reintegration which is the primary tool to facilitate the returns of irregular migrants. According to the IOM, the purpose of the AVRR is to assist migrants in need to return voluntarily, safely and in dignity in full respect of human rights regardless of their status. These programmes aim to offer a humane and dignified return as an alternative to forcible return for those migrants who are ordered to leave EU territory. This study examines the objectives of the AVRR programmes and aims to answer whether the AVRR can in practice offer voluntary, safe and dignified returns to the irregular migrants residing in the EU. According to the findings of this thesis, multiple issues raise concerns on the actualization of the noble goals of the AVRR. The case law and multidisciplinary research regarding AVRR indicate that returns facilitated by AVRR cannot be considered voluntary neither safe in practice. Furthermore, if neither voluntariness nor safety can be ensured, emerges the question of whether these returns can still be considered dignified. According to this study, the concept of dignified return remains unclear and ambiguous, and these returns facilitated by AVRR cannot offer a real option of returning in dignity. The fact that AVRR can be considered more humane and more dignified return than forcible deportations does not make these returns humane or dignified per se.