Coping with Return (ERF Community Actions 2004) (2005 - 2006)

Geographical Coverage: Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland

Duration: May 2005 – October 2006

Donor: European Refugee Fund

Status: Completed

Summary: The project aimed at contributing to the joint efforts in the enlarged EU in facilitating sustainable return of asylum seekers through an integrated approach to voluntary returns, with particular emphasis on vulnerable groups such as unaccompanied minors. Building on, and complementary to, efforts and initiatives at the national level, the project has facilitated a well-structured exchange of best practices in return counselling and development of a methodology tested through an applied research based on return cases. The concrete results of the project included a practitioner's manual on voluntary return counselling and service provisions with specific emphasis on vulnerable groups; establishment of a website to allow the exchange of practices and networking to continue beyond the project life span.