Story of Return

espite feeling settled in Greece, he felt that the time had come for him to leave. With the support of IOM, he went back to his home town Zugdidi, Western Georgia in 2019.  Upon arrival, Alex received a  reintegration grant and was then further assisted with post-arrival counselling and reintegration support by IOM’s office.

“I decided it was time to return. I had a good experience with IOM,” Lukava said.

In Samegrelo, as well as in other regions, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) through the  Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration programme provides different types of reintegration assistance – mainly income-generating projects in the field of agriculture, medical assistance and vocational training.

Since 2003, 18,163 Georgian nationals have returned to Georgia with IOM’s support from 32 countries, most EU Member States and Switzerland. The biggest sending countries nowadays are Germany, Greece, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Among them, 5100 cases (including 6546 persons) received one or more types of post-arrival assistance.

IOM’s Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programme ensures the orderly and humane return and reintegration of migrants who are unable or unwilling to remain in the host countries and thus wish to voluntarily return to their countries of origin.

“When I returned home, I used my reintegration grant for business. I opened metal door and window workshop in November 2019,” Lukava said.

Returning to Georgia was both challenging and exciting. He is happy about his new life and opportunities back in Georgia. “Starting over is not easy. My future goal is to further expand my business.”