IOM Azerbaijan assists migrants returning to homeland voluntarily

The staff members of the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) project started to provide the counseling sessions and implementation of the reintegration assistance to returnees– the citizens of Azerbaijan who voluntarily returned to the country of origin before the COVID-19 outbreaks.

In May, they reached the number of implementation cases/counseling sessions, which they had at the beginning of the current year, Report says citing AzerTag.

During May, the staff members of AVRR held 27 in-person, and 12 virtual meetings with returnees and provided up to 31 in-kind assistance. Five individuals were assisted with housing in the specified period, six individuals with small businesses, one person received medical support, and 19 others paid material assistance (appliance and basic furniture).

Since February, IOM Azerbaijan supported 13 individuals with housing, 13 people with small businesses, 57 received material assistance (appliance and basic furniture), and five - medical support.

Currently, IOM Azerbaijan provides its aid activities for migrants returned from Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, the Netherlands, Turkey, and Latvia. One of the main parts of reintegration assistance besides educational activities, temporary housing, is employment or setting-up income-generating activity, e.g., small business for voluntarily returned migrants.