Reintegration & Return

N E W S L E T T E R 1 4 — D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3

Caritas International

Department integration after volun-

tary return

Liefdadigheidstraat 43

1210 Brussel

Head of Social Programmes

Anne Dussart

+32 2 229 36 04

a.dussart@caritasint.be

Coordinator

Sofie De Mot +32 2 229 36 46

s.demot@caritasint.be

Africa & Balkan:

Stefanie Duysens +32 2 211 10 52

s.duysens@caritasint.be

West Africa & South America:

Sandra Fernandez +32 2 229 36 02

s.fernandez@caritasint.be

Ex-URSS (excepting Armenia):

Thomas Goedgezelschap +32 2 229 36 50

t.goedgezelschap@caritasint.be

Armenia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka

Hanne Couderé +32 2 609 06 53

h.coudere@caritasint.be

Asia & Middle East:

Hermien Wittouck +32 2 229 35 86

h.wittouck@caritasint.be

reintegration@caritasint.be

www.reintegrationcaritas.be

The trend of the previous years

continues, as the number of re-

turnees supported by Caritas Inter-

national increased again in 2013.

Until October this year, 637 people

(381 cases) returned with reinte-

gration support.

This provisional number equals the

total number of returnees in 2012.

Between January and October, 198

cases returned with a reintegration

budget financed by the national fund.

Another 193 cases received addition-

al European STAVR 2013 budget, of

which 123 invested this budget into a

business. In addition, 25 cases re-

ceived support within the ERSO pro-

ject (European Reintegration Support

Organisations), and 18 cases within

the ERI project (European Reintegra-

tion Initiative).

While Kosovo ranked number one on

the list of top destinations last year,

Russia took over this position in

2013. Since the beginning of this

year, Kosovars can no longer apply

for reintegration support. The number

of returnees to Russia increased fur-

ther in 2013. This group represents a

quarter of all returnees who received

reintegration support. Almost twice as

many people returned to Kazakhstan

compared to last year. This country

now ranks second, followed by Arme-

nia, Georgia and Nepal.

66% of the people who returned with

reintegration support were rejected

asylum seekers, while 17% decided

to return before their asylum proce-

dure was finished. Due to the imple-

mentation of the strict reintegration

criteria, only a small minority (6%) of

undocumented migrants who never

applied for asylum received reintegra-

tion support.

* Until October 2013

FIGURES 2013

80

177

347

259303

438

639 637

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013*

Total number of returnees

Russia 149 pers

23%

Kazakhstan 69 pers

11%

Armenia 56 pers.

9%

Georgia35 pers.

5%

Nepal 32 pers.

5%

Others341 pers

47%

Top Return Countries 2013*

2 R E T U R N & R E I N T E G R A T I O N — N U M B E R 1 4 — D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3

At the end of 2011, Caritas International Belgium and

Caritas Moscow started their collaboration in the

framework of the national and European reintegra-

tion project. While only a few people returned to

Russia with reintegration support at that time, it is

currently ranking number one among the top desti-

nations.

Most returnees live in the

Chechen Republic, closely

followed by other regions in

the Northern Caucasus. Be-

cause of the strict measures

towards local NGOs, Caritas

has chosen to organize rein-

tegration counselling from

Moscow.

As the statistics show, the

number of returnees to Rus-

sia increased significantly in

2012 and 2013. Therefore,

an ‘information exchange’

was organized in Moscow in April 2013 to evaluate the

reintegration possibilities and to exchange experience.

The attending partners were Caritas International Bel-

gium, Armenian Caritas and Caritas Moscow. The aim of

this meeting was to bring in touch the relatively new rein-

tegration partner, Caritas Moscow, with the more experi-

enced Armenian Caritas. During this meeting the reinte-

gration assistance process offered by Caritas Moscow

was analyzed and adjusted

where needed.

During this one-week meet-

ing we visited several return-

ees from Belgium in and

around Moscow. Armenian

Caritas joined these monitor-

ing visits and was able to

communicate directly with

the returnees. It was not pos-

sible to visit returnees in the

Northern Caucasus region

due to the insecure situation.

Although monitoring in that

region is usually organised

by telephone, Caritas Mos-

cow visits each year once or twice the people who re-

turned to this area. ♦

In October 2013, a monitoring mission to Kazakh-

stan (Almaty) took place to monitor the reintegration

programme. During one week Thomas

Goedgezelschap (reintegration service CIB) and Jo

Cools (Fedasil) visited 18 families who returned

from Belgium between June 2012 and August 2013

with the support of Caritas International.

The first aim of the mission was to understand the rein-

tegration possibilities in Kazakhstan after a long period

of absence, and to identify the opportunities for return-

ees from Belgium. Secondly, we could meet the local

reintegration partner, Caritas Almaty, and discuss the

difficulties and possibilities after return.

Since June 2012, Caritas Almaty assisted 108 people in

their reintegration process. The role of this organisation

is broader than only managing the reintegration budgets.

Caritas Almaty also offers juridical assistance, helps

returnees to close rent agreements and sales docu-

ments, supports parents in their search for schools for

their children etc. As regards the micro business sup-

port, the majority of the returnees starts a business

which is based on their former professional experience.

Due to the high prices in Almaty and limited financial

resources, most returnees try to avoid a big financial risk

by investing the budget in a safe business with which

they are familiar. As most people have some profession-

al experience already, they do not always ask for exten-

sive business support.

It is striking that all returnees from Belgium belong to

ethnical minorities, and that they mention this to be the

main reason for their emigration to Belgium. Kazakhstan

MISSION IN MOSCOW

KAZAKHSTAN: SUCCESSFUL REINTEGRATION

3 R E T U R N & R E I N T E G R A T I O N — N U M B E R 1 4 — D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3

is a multinational country where 105 different

nationalities live together. Since the end of the

Sovjet Union the number of minorities living in

Kazakhstan is decreasing yearly, while the num-

ber of ethnical Kazakh people is increasing.

This demographical evolution manifests itself

(according to the ex-migrants) in daily life by rac-

ism and inequality towards them. The biggest

minority groups among the returnees are Rus-

sian, Uygur and Kurd people, who have lived in

Kazakhstan their entire life and are Kazakhstan

citizens.

In general, the visited returnees were positive

about the received reintegration support and the

assistance from Caritas Almaty. Most of them

emphasized not wanting to emigrate again in the

future, both for the well being of their children as

for themselves. ♦

In September, Sandra Fernandez visited the people

who recently returned from Europe to Morocco. She

met ms. Rachida, who started her own bakery pro-

ject with assistance of Caritas International and the

local partner

organisation

Fondation Ori-

ent-Occident.

Rachida came

to Belgium in

2008 to move in

with her son.

Not long after,

several prob-

lems started to

trouble their

relationship.

When her son

eventually

abandoned her,

she was taken

care of by the

Moroccan com-

munity in Brus-

sels. Hoping for a better future for her family, Rachida

had left her two daughters in Tangiers. They stayed with

their aunt in a small studio in the meantime. As her plan

had turned out differently than expected, she decided to

return to Morocco and her daughters after four years.

Knowing her perspectives were limited and emotionally

exhausted, she shared her story with Caritas Interna-

tional.

Before her return, Rachida planned to make pastry in

Morocco in order to support her family. She wanted to

rent a place where she could prepare all kinds of pas-

tries to sell them at the market. Before leaving Morocco,

baking had always been her only source of income.

Since she did not have any opportunity to learn new

skills in Belgium, starting a bakery was the only option

for her.

Together with Caritas International and Fondation Orient

-Occident, Rachida developed her project, which was

later approved by Fedasil. She was exceptionally grant-

ed the maximum budget to launch her small business in

Tangier. Soon after her arrival in Morocco, Rachida real-

ized that this budget was insufficient to cover all required

costs. It was impossible to finance both the rent and the

necessary equipment. During a long discussion with

Fondation Orient-Occident she could further develop her

plan.

Rachida did not want to give up. Encouraged by her

daughters, she decided to rebuild a small part of her

studio as a bakery instead of renting a separate room.

This adjustment enabled her to spend the entire reinte-

gration budget on material expenses.

In September Caritas International visited her studio in

Tangiers. Rachida was adding the finishing touches to

her bakery. She felt happy to be reunified with her

daughters and being able to maintain them. Now she

can finally start baking, she hopes she’ll be able to pay

for their studies and give them a better future. Good

luck, Rachida! ♦

COUNTRY IN THE PICTURE: MOROCCO!

4 R E T U R N & R E I N T E G R A T I O N — N U M B E R 1 4 — D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 3

At the end of May 2013, Sofie De Mot and Hermien

Wittouck from Caritas International and return coun-

sellor Sofie Neel from Fedasil visited northern Iraq in

the framework of a monitoring mission. The number

of returnees who received reintegration support in-

creased significantly since the beginning of the part-

nership in 2011. The main purpose of this mission

was visiting people who returned with support of the

reintegration programme of Caritas International and

the local organisation

ETTC. In this way, we

could explore and eval-

uate the reintegration

possibilities in this spe-

cific region.

The mission started in

Erbil, where the main of-

fice of the partner organi-

sation ETTC (European

Training and Technology

Centre) is located. Erbil is

the capital of the autono-

mous northern Kurdish

region (KRG), which is

largely independent from

the Iraqi government.

ETTC is specialized in

organizing trainings, such as language courses, IT and

business advice sessions, as well as offering reintegra-

tion support to people who return voluntarily. Returnees

frequently follow a business start up course in the train-

ing centre before starting up a business (shop, bazaar,

garage, grocery shop, farm…).

A good business preparation appears to be indispensa-

ble, especially due to the quick developments in northern

Iraq. This region is considered relatively safe compared

to other parts of Iraq, especially the troubled region

around Baghdad and in southern Iraq. Therefore, sever-

al people move or travel to the KRG to escape, some-

times temporarily, from the threats in neighbouring re-

gions. Another consequence is that companies and hotel

chains are more inclined to invest in this region. Due to

this tendency, new jobs for skilled or English speaking

people are often created. People without a degree, pro-

fessional experience of language skills, however, still

face many difficulties in searching a suitable job or to

start a micro business, also because of the increasing

prices and competition on the market.

The different monitoring visits indicated clearly that sup-

port of family or a social network is very important to al-

low the returnee to readapt to his/her society that is rap-

idly changing. Besides this social support, it is of equal

importance to provide preparatory counselling in Bel-

gium to manage one’s expectations. The third step is

professional support in Iraq immediately upon arrival, as

well as on the longer term to support the returnee in

searching a suitable job or training.

In Duhok, we visited Omar at his restaurant. Last year,

he decided to return to his hometown after having lived

in Belgium for over 7

years, despite his fond-

ness of Belgium. He

gained a lot of catering

experience in several Bel-

gian restaurants and de-

cided to use this know-

how to open a restaurant

together with a business

partner. The reintegration

budget was used to buy a

share in the restaurant

where he is now working

as a cook. In time, he

would like to increase his

investment if the business

is profitable enough. To-

gether with ETTC, he

made a business plan and

discussed the different options of investing the budget.

Due to the expensive renting prices and investments, he

soon realized that a restaurant of his own, without part-

ner, was not realistic.

Thanks to the current cooperation, he can earn a stable

income and rebuild his life in Iraq. His story is success-

ful, but ETTC also pointed out that such investments

often involve a substantial financial risk.

Therefore, the option of job placement is always dis-

cussed, especially with returnees who do not have any

professional experience or degree. Job placement im-

plies that an employer hires someone who lacks experi-

ence, in exchange for a salary subsidy. In this way, the

person can gradually learn a job instead of starting a

rather risky micro business. This option proved to be a

more sustainable choice for Adil, aged 19, who is now

working as an employee in a grocery shop. Adil used

part of his reintegration budget to buy products for the

shop and the other part was added to his monthly salary.

This arrangement compensated for his lack of experi-

ence and convinced the shop owner. If his contract can-

not be prolonged in the future, he will at least have

gained professional experience and insight into running

a small business. ♦

A NEW WIND THROUGH NORTHERN IRAQ