POSTPONED - "Get Lost!"

*POSTPONED*

European migration policy is focusing increasingly on the return of migrants. Politicians in various member states are profiling themselves with promises to enforce the law, deport „effectively“ and thus promote "order". The right to protection in the event of a positive decision on an asylum application is up against the obligation to leave the country in the event of a negative decision. However, there are many difficulties in enforcing this. Some programs and member states are therefore offering financial incentives for “voluntary" return.

Yet, every deportation means the end of a dream; and anyone who asks rejected asylum seekers to "get lost" has no understanding of how hard a deportation actually is. Little does it matter what happens to deportees in their countries of origin, how they live or survive and whether support for "voluntary returns" leads to sustainable success.

Against this backdrop, the publication “Get lost! European Return Policies in Practice” intends to shed light on what are at times dramatic realities for people returning to Afghanistan and Syria and aims to contribute facts to the current debate on such returns. The contributions concerning Tunisia, Senegal and Kosovo, on the other hand, provide insights into the current return and reintegration programmes and place them within the policy context of “tackling the root causes of flight” as well as domestic economic situations in countries of origin.

Programme
 

17:30-18:00                Registration

18:00-18:10                Welcome       

• Eva van de Rakt, Head of Office, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union, Brussels

18:10-18:30               Presentation

• Kirsten Maas-Albert, Head of Africa Division, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Berlin

18:30-19:20                Comments

• Francisco Gaztelu-Mezquiriz, Head of Unit “Irregular Migration

and Return Policy”, DG HOME

• Badara Ndiaye, Director, DIADEM (Diaspora Development Education Migration) and MIGRAFRIQUE
• Tineke Strik, Member of the European Parliament, The Greens/EFA    

Moderation: Kirsten Maas-Albert, Head of Africa Division, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Berlin

19:20-20:00                Q&A   

20:00                           Reception

Working languages: English and French (simultaneous interpretation)

Please register by 13 March.

Venue

Atelier29

Rue Jacques de Lalaing 29, 1000 Brussels