Forced, regulated and flexible temporariness in return migration

Discrepancies between return policies and return practices are multiple and notions of temporariness are inherent within this dichotomy. This article will examine the role of temporariness within return migration including the imagining of return, decision-making for return, return visits, and return and reintegration experiences. The role of temporariness will be demonstrated through the experiences of three different types of return migrants: assisted voluntary returnees (AVR) in Albania, participants of an IOM temporary return programme for knowledge transfer in Afghanistan and returning domestic workers and female professionals experiences of temporariness in return in Ethiopia. Returnees in Albania experience ‘imposed temporariness’ through the AVR programme, which limits their stay in the intended destination country; participants in the return programme experience ‘regulated temporariness’ as the duration of their return is regulated by the programme and cannot exceed three months, and the professional returnees to Ethiopia experience ‘flexible temporariness’ as they have the freedom to circulate between Ethiopia and their country of new citizenship. Finally, the domestic worker returnees to Ethiopia cross-sect these categories depending on the nature of their return. This article will assess the different roles of temporariness in policy and practice across the experiences of these return migrants.