OPEN THE DOOR TO YOUR NEW BEGINNING

REAL STORIES OF RETURN

People have always crossed borders in search of a better life. Aspirations and dreams, however, do not always come true. For some migrants, returning home is a logical, viable and desirable option. A lot of the migrants with whom IOM Bulgaria is in contact every year sign up for the Assisted Voluntary Return and the Reintegration support that we offer. While the number of migrants who want to return to their home countries voluntarily varies, due to the specific situation in their home countries, most of them are in need of some sort of assistance in the return and reintegration process. This is why IOM continuously works on making its support for returnees as flexible as possible.

This booklet presents a small collection of stories of many return cases assisted in recent years by the IOM Mission in Bulgaria as well as the other European IOM Missions – many men, women and their children who have returned voluntarily to their home countries, receiving support from IOM and help during the subsequent reintegration process. All individuals featured here have their own stories to tell – about dreams and desires; about difficulties and disappointments; about hope and strength to start life anew. Yet all these stories have something in common: they are as much about the present as they are about the envisaged future.

Going back is not as easy and simple as it may seem. Often it means starting all over again. The stories you are about to read here show the different ways in which these people have used IOM’s reintegration support to re-build their lives, securing an income generating activity, taking care of their health, investing in their children’s future by providing for the education of their young. IOM would like to thank them all for sharing their personal story and whishes them the very best for their future!

Radoslav StamenkovHead of Office

IOM Mission in Bulgaria

My name is Nuredin.

In 2007 I got a seasonal work contract in Italy and that allowed me to look for new opportunities in order to be able to take better care of my family. In Morocco I didn’t have a job. I have no education either. I had just gotten married and we lived in my parents’ house together with my brother’s family and relied on my parents’ financial support.

In Italy I worked for 6 years – the last 3 of them as an illegal worker. I was an assistant at a butcher’s shop. The shop went bankrupt and in 2010 I lost my right to legal stay. I missed my family the whole time. I was alone, lacked a secure income and often starved. I was hiding. I lived in fear that I was vulnerable and could get in trouble, if I was caught by the authorities. I took whatever jobs I could get and the employers took advantage of me and my friends who were in the same situation, so they would pay us considerably less than we deserved and force us to work long hours overtime. For a couple of months I travelled around France and Belgium, but everywhere the situation for illegal migrants is the same. I returned to Italy and was desperate. I missed my wife and daughter, but lacked the means to go back to them. I realized I could not keep living in fear and uncertainty, far from my loved ones and with no clear prospects.

A friend told me about the International Organization for Migration (IOM). I called right away and was included in a professional qualification programme – part of an assisted voluntary return and reintegration programme. I made use of my knowledge of the meat business and focused on obtaining knowledge of document handling and business initiatives. I returned to Morocco at the beginning of 2015 and immediately got in contact with the local IOM office which provided assistance and support in the process of implementation of the reintegration grant I had received before I left Italy. My brother and I decided to invest the funds from my reintegration grant, as well as some money he had saved, in order to open a small fresh meat shop at the market in the small town where we live. The shop has been operating for 3 months now and we are very happy with this development.

I am positive about the future - my own and my children’s. I want to provide security for them and invest in their education, so they can get a better chance, which, I hope, they will look for in our homeland. I will always stand by their side.

I have my family’s support - together we can achieve anything

My name is Mohammed.

I left Morocco in 2002 hoping to find a better life for myself in Europe.

In Morocco my family lived in a neighbourhood with a bad reputation in Casablanca and the money was never enough. I travelled around 13 countries and lived on the road – with no home or a secure job. Wherever I arrived, I was ready to leave on the next day - and I often did. I lacked valid documents and knew I could get arrested by the police at any time.

I found some friends from Morocco in Norway and decided I wanted to stay there and try to legalise my stay. I applied for refugee status, but in the meantime a friend of mine said he had decided to return voluntarily to Morocco under an assisted voluntary return and reintegration programme, implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Norway. I decided to call them and went to consult them. Afterwards I quickly decided to return to Morocco, because I had been approved for inclusion in the reintegration programme and was able to return with dignity.

I did not have my family’s support, because the unemployment rate is high in Casablanca and my chance to start work right after I returned seemed small. After I arrived, I used part of my reintegration grant to furnish the room in my parent’s house, where I live.

The employees of IOM Rabat help me with information and advice, for which I am very grateful. I plan to use the rest of the grant to pay for professional qualification courses and to look for better opportunities for myself – here.

I will find my way

My name is Abdelgani.

I am 33 years old. I left for Italy in 2006 with seasonal work contract. I worked in agriculture for three years and when my contract expired, the employer decided not to renew it. I found myself without a right to legal stay in Italy. With the help of some friends, also illegal migrants, we decided to find a way to stay and work in Italy or somewhere else in Europe – there was no one and nothing waiting for us in Morocco, so we never contemplated the possibility to return there. It was hard to find work, the conditions were tough, we were being exploited and lived in constant fear that someone could betray us and we could be arrested.

Two friends of mine and I attempted to cross the border between Bulgaria and Turkey on foot in the autumn of 2012 and got arrested by the police. What followed was months of stay in closed refugee camps. That made me rethink my goals, desires, possibilities. I now knew I had no other option, but to return to my country and look there for what I had not been able to achieve in other places.

I saw leaflets for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in one of the refugee camps and found out about the voluntary return and reintegration programmes that are being implemented. I contacted the IOM office in Sofia and consulted them. I was approved for inclusion in a voluntary return and reintegration programme.

I returned to Morocco in the winter of 2012. I used the reintegration grant to pay 3 months’ rent for a flat where I could move as soon as I arrived. My family considered me a loser and I lacked their support at that time, so that grant was very important for me in the first months following my return. I got a job and gradually settled down. Soon afterwards I met my wife and we now have a 2-year old boy whom we raise with help from my parents in their home. My family realised what hardships I had been through and accepted me again. It would have been hard for us to manage without their support, since both my wife and I have jobs.

The situation in Casablanca where I live is complicated – work is hard to find and salaries are low. But we will not give up and will make sure that our child has a better start in life and avoids the mistakes that I made – running instead of fighting.

I will not give up

I am a barber by profession. I was born and live in Casablanca – a large city with plenty of opportunities, but also plenty of difficulties. Some friends told me they were planning to leave the country illegally and enter Greece by boat. There is a large Moroccan community there with which they were in touch and would rely on its support to build a better life for themselves than our life in Morocco offered. I decided to save some money and go with them. We made it and in the spring of 2014 I found myself in Athens – broke and with no acquaintances there. It turned out that the “friends” that we were supposed to go to were unable to help us – their life was difficult and poor, as it was. I started looking for a job and working whatever I could, so I could make just enough money to keep me from starvation. I would talk to my family on the phone and tell them that everything was all right, because I did not want them to worry about me. I suffered and was very lonely and miserable, but I couldn’t go back – I had no money, and besides, what was I going to tell them? I tried to get work as a hairdresser, but no one believed me and I had no papers. 6 months later I knew I had to find a way to change all that. I heard about the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and their voluntary return and integration programmes and decided to look for them. When I had consulted them, I knew that was my best option and looked forward to the day of my return. I chose a reintegration plan – equipment for a small hair salon. I have already done repairs to the small garage my parents owe in one of the suburbs of Casablanca. All the equipment has just arrived and I can’t wait to arrange everything and open my own salon.

Without the support I received from IOM and without their grant none of this would have been possible. I returned to my homeland with dignity and have an opportunity for a new start. I regret the risk I took leaving for Greece – illegal, with no papers and violating the law. Now I know I do not want to go down that road again. Here I am surrounded by my family and loved ones who support me and I feel safe and calm.

My name is Hisham and I am 31 years old.

I will not make the same mistake twice!

My name is Sala and I am 33 years old.

In 2009 I entered Greece illegally by boat. For 4 years I worked without the permits and documents required for a legal stay. The work was hard - in agriculture. I had to move frequently from place to place. Money was scarce and I could not send any to my family in Morocco, as I had hoped before I left for Greece. In 2013 I suffered a bad leg injury while working. I underwent a long treatment and had to be operated on twice. It was very difficult for me to cope during that time. I was alone – with no support from my loved ones; ill – and I needed help, but had nowhere to get it from; hungry, but had no money for food, because everything I had saved or managed to earn when I was able to work and was not in a lot of pain was spent on medicines. My parents sent me money on several occasions, so I could pay for my treatment in Greece. I was at the end of my tether.Then a friend told me about the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and I saw a chance to receive help and support from them. I went to consult them and because of my health problems I was immediately included in a programme for assistance to vulnerable migrants. I went back to Morocco in the autumn of 2014 and received a grant which, after my return, I decided to invest in the purchase of some additional calves for my father’s farm, so that we could start increasing the yield of milk and fresh meat which is my family’s main source of income.I live in a very poor area in Morocco – the western part of the Atlas Mountains. Our farm is 10 km away from the nearest town. The nearest school is 4 km away. The public transport fares are too high for me and my family, so every time we need to use a telephone or Internet, we walk this distance. I live in my parents’ house together with my brothers and sisters and their families and children – there are 12 of use in total. The children walk 4 km to school every day. It is hard, but we are all together and work together, supporting each other. Family is the safest place on earth.I am currently engaged and we are planning to get married in the summer of 2015 – right after I finish the repair of the small annex in the yard, where my wife and I are going to live. I am happy and prepared to work hard, so I can give my family a happy and peaceful life.

I am ready to start a family and work hard, so we can live a happy and peaceful life

My name is Mohammed and I am 36 years old.

I left for Spain in 2001 with a seasonal work contract - in agriculture. I worked hard and sent money to my parents in Morocco. I was saving money and not paying my social insurance contributions. In 2009 I received a letter from the Spanish authorities urging me to pay my contributions retroactively. That would be an enormous expense for me, so I decided to return to Morocco. After my return I met my wife and we got married. But life was hard – we were unemployed and our income was very low. So we both decided to leave for Greece and work there. In 2010 we crossed the maritime border between Greece and Turkey illegally together with a group of other Moroccans. My wife quickly found a job as a caretaker in a family, while I, having a lot of experience in agriculture, looked for work in the same field again. Although we were staying in the country illegally, we built ourselves a good life and since we lived in a small town away from the capital, we felt safe. In 2011 our son was born – that was the happiest moment of my life. We now could see a bright and structured future for ourselves. We were making enough money to live a secure life. We had a healthy and handsome little boy whom we looked after with a lot of love and care. In 2012 my wife fell suddenly ill. The doctors came up with the diagnosis very soon – cancer. Our world collapsed. The treatment was expensive, we had no social insurance, we were afraid of being caught and getting in trouble. In 2013 the illness worsened and the doctors said my wife had only 6 months to live. Then we decided to go back to Morocco and spend her last days there together - close to our family and everything we knew. We returned with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Greece in 2014. My wife died in the hospital in Marrakesh 2 months later. It is very difficult for both me and my little boy to start our lives anew – we both miss her. With the reintegration grant we received I opened a small shop in the garage of the house where we live – together with my parents’ and my brother’s families. My work and ambition to give my child a comfortable and peaceful childhood require all my efforts. My mother has helped me a lot in raising my child and all of us together are trying to cope with the stress and grief from the loss of my wife and the mother of my child. My business is slowly starting to grow and I am investigating the opportunities to also invest into a small baker’s shop in the adjacent room, where we can make snacks. I plan to also invest in a small motorcycle for the delivery of the freshly baked snacks to the waterfalls in the vicinity which are a tourist attraction and are visited by a large number of tourists.

I will work towards that goal, because I want my child to get a good education and I want us to live a happy and peaceful life and have a secure income.

My child is my priority!

My name is Mohammed and I am 26 years old.

I left illegally for Greece in 2011 together with a group of other Moroccans. My brother was already there and was expecting me - I thought we would support each other and find a better life for ourselves. We used to live in a poor area of Morocco, with very few opportunities for work, and money was always scarce. Before we left, we both helped our father in his little stock farm. In Greece we got the same kind of work. But life was not easier at all. We worked long hours, our incomes were insufficient and we often starved. We lived in fear of being arrested because of our invalid papers. We moved frequently from place to place. That lasted 3 long, tough years. Hunger and poverty took their toll on both me and my brother and we both succumbed to depression - first he and then I - and had to get treatment. The medicines were expensive and we were incapable of working to our full potential. That was how we decided that my brother was to return to Morocco. We saved the money for the ticket and after his departure I was left all alone. My illness worsened and I could not go on like that. Then I heard that a friend was returning to Morocco with the assistance of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Athens and I got their contact information from him. I called and went to consult them. Very soon after that my departure was organized and before I left, I found out I had been approved for inclusion in the reintegration programme. I arrived home in September of 2014. That was one of the happiest days of my life! I was no longer alone. Depression and the medicines had made me very vulnerable and insecure. I needed the support and presence of my loved ones. I needed to be in a place where I knew everybody. I needed to be at home. My brother and I continued our treatment at the hospital in Marrakesh. Every month we travel there for a check-up and prescriptions for our medication. We both feel much better now. I used the reintegration grant to buy 5 goat kids that we added to my father’s farm. Both my brother and I actively tend to and work in the small family business that feeds us – there are 10 of us living in that house.

I can now look ahead with optimism. I dream of feeling even more stabilized, of business growing and of being able to start a family. Every new day is brighter than the one before!

“It’s good to be back home where everything is familiar and you can rely on the support of your family and friends”

My name is Hamzeh and I live in Irbid, Jordan.

I am of Palestinian origin and that has always made it difficult for me – getting a job, fulfilling my potential, starting a business. My brother Zeyn and I crossed the Turkish border illegally in the autumn of 2013. We had no particular goal when we left. We just wanted to find better opportunities – escape the limitations that our origin created for us in Jordan. We knew nothing about what was ahead of us. We were not prepared for any part of what was in store for us.We were arrested at the border and were immediately taken to a closed camp. On the very day of our arrest I saw a leaflet for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for a voluntary return and reintegration programme, which I took and kept for a year before my brother and I made up our minds to call them.For a year I lived far from my family – I have a wife and 5 children – four boys and a girl. I could not send them money, as I had planned, and they were taken care of by the family of my other brother in Irbid. I was beginning to realize that my plans to settle somewhere and take them with me would not be fulfilled. It was hard. In the summer of 2014 I called IOM and was visited by their team with an Arabic interpreter. They assisted me and very soon my travel documents were ready. I joined a reintegration grant programme.I returned to Irbid and immediately began working on the documents for utilization of my reintegration grant with the assistance of IOM in Amman. I rented a flat for my family and we bought a refrigerator. I got a job as a taxi driver almost immediately, but in just a few months’ time I had to quit. We moved to a smaller flat, with a lower rent. I am currently unemployed and one of my brothers’ family is helping us again. I am actively looking for a job and even though it’s hard, I will not give up. Zeyn has just found work in a restaurant and I hope I will have the same luck soon.Reintegration helped me make a decision to return voluntarily and I am grateful to that programme, because otherwise I probably would have kept trying to do the impossible - to achieve security where that is not possible - far from my family and home.

Reintegration helped me make a decision to return to my family

My name is Javed.

I crossed the Bulgarian-Turkish border illegally and without papers in the middle of August of 2014 and was arrested by the police. What followed was months of stay in detention centres for illegal migrants, which were a difficult period for me and allowed me to reconsider my decision and my plans for the future.I left Afghanistan, lured by the idea of a better future that awaited me in Europe. I was running away from my country, looking for safety and peace somewhere far away. I did not know where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do, all I knew for sure was that I wanted to run away.I did not envisage the hardships that I would have to go through and I was not mentally prepared for any part of what happened to me. I hoped I would be able to settle somewhere, albeit illegally, and would be able to work and make a living in an honest and decent way. That proved to be impossible. The months I spent at the closed camps in Bulgaria made me look back again and reconsider my situation. Who am I? What do I want from my life? How can I achieve it? Where am I headed? What awaits me in the future? I realized I could not run and hide, I could not live in confinement and as an outlaw. That was not a solution to any of my problems.Then I saw the leaflets for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and contacted them. I consulted them and was told I had a chance to go back to Afghanistan voluntarily and could receive assistance from them. They organized my trip and I received a reintegration grant. That was how I opened a small grocery store which is doing very well and provides me with a steady income that is enough to support me. I have recently gotten married and feel very confident and determined to develop my business. I feel I am where I belong – in my homeland, surrounded by my family. I am grateful to the IOM for helping me return to Afghanistan and motivating me to start my own business – with the advice and financial assistance I received for my reintegration.

Now that I have a steady income, I prefer to stay in Afghanistan with my family

My name is Muhammad.

I am married and have three children. I used to be a taxi driver, before I decided to leave for Europe and look for work there – to settle down and then take my family with me. I left illegally. I was tricked I could easily cross the Bulgarian-Turkish border and then go to Canada. My dream was to settle there and I was prepared to do anything to achieve it, because I believed that was the best option for me and my family.At the Bulgarian-Turkish border I was arrested and taken to a closed detention centre for illegal migrants. I soon realized that “my dream” could not be fulfilled the way I had imagined. I missed my family and was afraid I might never see them again. I did not know what was in store for me in the future, but I knew I had to find a way to return to them. They are the only meaningful and valuable thing in my life and I was determined to find a way out. A solution that would take me back home – where I belong.I saw a leaflet for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and called them. I am grateful for the quick reaction of the employees who organized my trip back to Afghanistan and offered me assistance - for my reintegration. With that grant and with a bit of savings we had I managed to join as a partner into the small building materials store that a close friend of mine owned and was developing. We bought new merchandise and are now working very hard. My income is steady at the moment and I am able to support my family without difficulties. I am full of energy and determined for us to keep developing our business just as successfully. I feel happy I had the chance to return, to be with my family again, which is what matters most to me. Thanks to the IOM and their assistance I received a second chance and will work hard to walk steadily on with my head held high.

I am happy there was someone who could help me

This document was created with the financial support of the European Return Fund, co-financed by the European Union. The sole responsibility for the content of this document lies with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and under no circumstances should it be considered that the document reflects the official opinion of the European Union and the Responsible Authority.