Some data on the return to Morocco and Tunisia
Research on international family migration in Mediterranean countries (MED-HIMS) has calculated that between 2000 and 2018, an average of around 10,000 migrants returned to their countries of origin each year. France (32%), Italy (22%) and Spain (19%) are the main European countries from which this phenomenon occurs.
In particular, since the Arab Springs of 2011, there has been an increase in migration flows to Tunisia and Morocco. According to data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Morocco in particular has seen a significant increase, with 210,000 returns in 2014 compared to 165,000 in 2004 and 117,000 in 1994. 41% of the returns are women (86,100), and the most represented age group is between 25 and 49. In Tunisia, the percentage of women returnees is lower than that of men (85.5%).
Although it has increased since 2000, the percentage of women who have returned in recent years is 18.2%, compared to the pre-2000s average of 14.5%.
How is it possible to return to one's country of origin?
In Italy, as in the whole of Europe, the legislation and management of migratory phenomena provide for specific legal measures to offer migrants the possibility of returning home. RVA&R (Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration) programmes are promoted by the Ministry of the Interior, with national and European funding, and their implementation is entrusted to international and civil sector organisations. Between 2018 and 2019, the number of people returned from Italy to the Maghreb area with this programme is 8% of the total (1080) and the report shows that 1 in 5 men is Maghreb and only 1 in 20 women is from the same area.
Further Reading
OECD Annual Report 2017
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/development/development-co-operation-report-2017_dcr-2017-en
RAPPORT DE L'ENQUÊTE NATIONALE SUR LA MIGRATION INTERNATIONALE TUNISIA HIMS
OECD (2024), Return, Reintegration and Re-migration: Understanding Return Dynamics and the Role of Family and Community, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/625fb5e6-en.
OIM Italia (2021) Rapporto sull’Analisi dei piani individuali e di reintegrazione