Back home, sweet home? The post-return mobility of Senegalese and Congolese migrants

This paper aims to study the post-return mobility of Senegalese and Congolese migrants who returned from Europe to their origin country. New departures are often considered as an indicator to assess the success or failure of the reintegration of returnees in their country. It is often assumed that a failure of the reintegration of return migrants leads to a new migration, while the return is permanent in the case of success. However, measuring new departures for installation abroad after return is not evident given the lack of quantitative data. Thanks to biographic data from the MAFE surveys (Migration between Africa and Europe), we are able (1) to quantify the permanence of Senegalese and Congolese return migrants who spent more than one year in Europe and who have returned to their origin country in a long-term perspective, and (2) to investigate the determinants of new departures for installation to Europe of these return migrants. It is expected that the successful reintegration depends on the willingness to return, on the economic and political context, on the migrants’ life after their return, and on their situation since their return in comparison with the one they had in Europe.