New Migration Policies in Europe: The Return of Labor Migrants, Remigration Promotion and Reintegration Policies.

The article reports that on the basis of the working papers presented at an international conference sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation and held in Bonn on September 23-25, 1985, new information on the subject of return migration in Europe and conclusions on the effectiveness of policies to promote remigration were discussed aiming to stimulate further research on this subject. From the discussions that took place in the conference, it was found that the effects of the law to encourage voluntary return of the Federal Republic of Germany of 1983, in comparison with the middle-term trend of migration, have remained far behind the expectations, and that actually mainly lurks and Portuguese were induced to return. Moreover the majority of the returnees came from certain industries and regions that have been struck by major economic re-structurings. Concerning effects of the migration policies on the foreign residents in the host countries it was stated that these prevent a clear definition of their status by the foreigners themselves, because they obscure the decision whether to stay or leave the host country.