Assisted Voluntary Return Programme

The Regional Assisted Voluntary Return Program (AVR) is an IOM protection and support response to facilitate the dignified, safe, regular and orderly return, as well as voluntary and based on an informed decision, of migrants to their countries of origin.

The Regional Programme is a humanitarian initiative that is implemented in 11 countries of the continent:

Potential beneficiaries 

• Migrants: 

  • Stranded, without resources (economic/logistical) or support networks where they are.

  • Regardless of their migration status, they want to return to their country and are unable to do so by their own means. 

  • With particular health needs, belonging to LGBTIQ+ population, elderly people, single-parent families, etc.  

• People seeking to obtain refugee status who have abandoned their processes.  

• People in vulnerable situations, such as victims of human trafficking or smuggled migrants.   

• Unaccompanied or separated migrant children and adolescents.  

• In other situations of vulnerability (including migrants vulnerable to violence, exploitation and abuse). 

Phases of the AVR process to ensure a voluntary, dignified and safe return:  

*The entire process is free of charge, personalised and with specialised accompaniment. 

Each person makes the decision to return based on reliable and complete information. Additionally, they also have the option to decide not to return and leave the process at any time.  

Added value of the programme: 

1. Specialised protection programme.

2. Implemented by IOM – UN Migration, which has more than 40 years of technical experience in compliance with international standards and international migration law, as well as return policies. 

3. Based on informed and voluntary consent, emphasizing the importance of the agency and decision-making of migrants. 

4. Completely free of charge for those who participate.

5. Assists people in vulnerable situations who need to return to their country of origin and is based on humanitarian principles. 

6. Offers assistance before and after return, such as provision of CBI, lodging, food, medical examinations, assistance with documentation procedures, purchase of travel tickets, among others. 

How to refer cases to IOM? 

If you identify cases of people interested in the program, you can contact IOM and share the contact information of the interested persons so that the AVR team can reach them and inform them about the program. It is important to have previous consent to record and share their contact details.  

*The referral of a case to IOM teams does not automatically translates into a positive determination regarding the return, since a due diligence process needs to be carried out to verify the feasibility of carrying out the return and if the appropriate conditions are in place.

CONTACTS:

Do you know someone who wants to return to their country of origin?
Contact us at the following numbers to refer cases:(click on the flag of the country you are in):