The Return to Senegal project has just been launched by the Agency for a reasoned return, thanks to the associations Roma-Dakar and Progetto Diritti, with the support from the Human Rights and Peace Institute of Dakar and the financial aid of the Valdese Church.

The Return to Senegal project arose from awareness of the strong will of Senegalese people in Italy to return to their home country.

There are many reasons for this willingness to go back, and they do not affect only irregular migrants. The reasons could be personal, administrative or related to declining social condition because of the economic crisis in Europe, but in any cases, migrants who start this reverse migration need support.

Indeed, the return requires economic, psychological and personal resources, and the administrative and bureaucratic obstacles are many.

Up to now, all the return policies and programs conducted by the government have been too disconnected from the needs and the expectations of the Senegalese migrants. By contrast, the agency attempts to create real return projects to ensure a social, professional and economic rehabilitation while maintaining good and profitable relations with the country of the previous migration.

Reasoned & positive return

Policy dialogue between Italy and Senegal has been initiated to facilitate the return, but the Agency wishes to see greater coordination. Indeed, the objective is to create a real link between institutions in both countries and to find any convergence of their interests and the migrant interests.

The Agency is working for the adoption of a new status for migrant wishing to return and for an agreement between the two countries in order to allow the accumulation of pension rights and ensure the transferability of the social benefits to which Senegalese migrants are entitled.

By enabling a reasoned and positive return, this project aims to change the classic view of the return, usually considered a failure, and to make it a positive step forward in the migration circuit.