Assisted Voluntary Return Program (AVR)

Assisted Voluntary Return (AVR) program is one of many migration management services IOM offers to migrants and governments. It aims at orderly, humane and cost-effective return and reintegration of migrants who are unable or unwilling to remain in host countries and wish to return voluntarily to their countries of origin.

Since 1991 IOM has been providing assistance to migrants stranded in Turkey through the network of 220 field offices worldwide. In the past IOM Turkey provided AVR (Assisted Voluntary Return) under different projects such as SMIT (Stranded Migrant in Transit), TREP (Turkish Return Program), Repatriation of Kosovo’s, Repatriation of Bosnians, etc.  In 2009, IOM Turkey, participated in an IOM Sri Lankan project for voluntary return of Sri Lankiness stranded in Turkey. IOM Turkey also assists voluntary returns of rejected asylum seekers besides other stranded migrants, on a case to case basis.

Likewise, Secretary of State for the Home Department of the United Kingdom funded and IOM implemented project aiming to support the Government of Turkey to establish an efficient and humane mechanism in order to provide stranded irregular migrants and rejected asylum seekers with the voluntary return assistance, is envisaging assisting at least 200 stranded migrants and rejected asylum seekers for their voluntary return to their country of origin, in non-neighboring countries. Project will moreover disseminate information among the relevant embassies of origin countries, NGOs assisting irregular migrants and the migrants who have been brought to the Foreign Department premises in Turkey, to ensure that the project and the possibility of return strictly on voluntary basis is known by potential beneficiaries.

AVR Cases According to Country of Return

• Main countries of return are Turkmenistan, Mongolia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
•  Among 19 countries these 4 countries account for more than % 85 of total AVR cases.

AVR Cases According to Gender and Age