Should I stay or should I go?How Arab Spring and Economic Crisis affected return intentions?

This paper aims to explore the return migration intentions of first and second generations of Moroccans and Egyptians, taking into account the consequences of the Arab Spring and the current economic crisis for the aspiration to return to Egypt and Morocco: does those two factors have become an important factor in the ‘stay-or-return’ dilemma? And if so, do the changing circumstances in Italy, Morocco and Egypt either encourage or hinder a return? What is the impact of migrants’ integration and transnational ties on this decision? Are there striking differences between the first and second generation and between men and women? As alternative and competing hypotheses are possible regarding the relationships between return intentions, integration and transnationalism, the study will be explorative in nature; no specific hypotheses have been formulated beforehand. This paper benefits from some of the results of a broader project called “Transmediterraneans. North African Communities in Piedmont, between continuity and change” that FIERI is carrying out with the support of the Compagnia di San Paolo foundation. Qualitative face-to-face interviews were realized with Moroccan migrants living in the cities of Turin, Rome and Ancona and with Egyptian migrants living in the cities of Turin and Rome.