Greece - IOM Greece has signed an agreement with Greece’s Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction to implement an assisted voluntary return and reintegration (AVRR) program. Under the program, IOM will help third country nationals to return to their country of origin, safely and in dignity.

The implementation of the agreement started on June 1st and will run for three years, during which time IOM Greece aims to assist 5,400 third country nationals annually to return to their countries of origin, as well as assisting some 1,350 returnees with in-kind reintegration assistance.

Reintegration can be defined as the re-inclusion or re-incorporation of a person into a group or process, for example, of a migrant into the society of his or her country of origin.

The annual budget of the program, which is co-funded by the Asylum Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and Greece’s Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction, is EUR 11 million.

The agreement was signed by IOM Chief of Mission in Greece, Daniel Esdras, and the General Secretary of Public Order, Dimitris Anagnostakis, in the presence of the Alternate Minister of Citizen Protection, Nikos Toskas and the Alternate General Secretary, Tzanetos Filippakos.

IOM’s AVRR program provides for the financial and social reintegration of individuals and the cooperation between all stakeholders in origin and reception countries. The decision of returning back home is voluntary and based on the migrant’s request. A voluntary decision encompasses two elements, freedom of choice and an informed decision which requires the availability of enough accurate and objective information upon which to base the decision.

IOM Greece has already launched information campaigns on the option of AVRR and a significant number of migrants currently stranded on the Greek islands have expressed an interest in returning home with IOM assistance.

For further information please contact Daniel Esdras at IOM Greece, Tel: +30 2109919040, Email: iomathens@iom.int