(Ir)Reversible Journeys: First Migration Drivers and Return Aspiration and Capability

Cecilia Fortunato , Sapienza University of Rome
Elena Ambrosetti, Sapienza University of Rome

Returning to the country of origin is an eventual step of the migration cycle in a non-linear trajectory, that may include immobility as well as multiple returns and remigration embedding varying degrees of voluntariness. The present study attempts to disentangle the impact on return decision-making of different drivers of first migration, drawing on a qualitative fieldwork conducted in 2021 and exploring migrants’ aspirations and perceptions of Europe before and after the migration. Within the frame of the EU-H2020 Perception project, we conducted 101 semi-structured interviews with migrants and refugees, analysed through Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) and computational techniques. Building on the ‘aspiration-capability framework’, we investigate the opportunity of return as a function of individual perceptions of origin and destination, lived experiences, culturally-defined aspirations and plans for future, interacting with contextual and relational factors. Our results reveal that reasons behind first and return migration are multifaceted, intertwined, changing over time and space and rooted in constraints from different life spheres. The need for human rights protection, safety, freedom and self-determination are often key drivers for first migration prompted by structural conditions as well as by community and family constraints, limiting the capability of return. Also, external factors, such as policies and government behaviour, as well as geopolitical assets, significantly influence the decision to migrate, the migrant's status and legal trajectory and the opportunity of return.

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 Presented in Session 87. International Migration Intentions