Martin Rozumek on migrant returns: safe and dignified returns as the key to an effective migration policy.

OPU Director Martin Rozumek spoke twice on Czech Radio a few days ago on the topic of migrant returns in the context of Donald Trump’s and the European Union’s plans for massive deportations of immigrants and rejected asylum seekers. He pointed out that without an effective return policy, an effective migration system can hardly work, but returns must be dignified and safe, i.e. not forced returns to dangerous countries such as Belarus, Afghanistan or Russia. He also pointed out that without agreements with safe countries of origin and cooperation with the authorities of these countries, it would be very difficult to implement returns in practice. From the EU, only about a quarter of return decisions are actually implemented; specifically, in the third quarter of last year, out of 112335 return decisions in the EU, 27740 returns were implemented. OPU has long said that returns should be primarily voluntary, because forced raids on immigrants in Europe or the US, bombastically presented in the media, will mainly lead to an increase in illegal treatment of immigrants in the areas of work, housing and fear of parents sending their children to school, and to the creation of xenophobic sentiments in society, which will then be used by extremists and populists in elections.