This new issue of Migration Policy Practice is a special edition focused on the return and reintegration of migrants who are unable or unwilling to remain in host or transit countries. In light of complex and dynamic migration flows, the discourse on return and reintegration has gained renewed prominence in national and international political agenda in recent years. In 2018, 152 governments agreed to have a dedicated objective to this topic in the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.

Within this context, the special issue of Migration Policy Practice seeks to present challenges, opportunities, existing practices and policy implications in the field of return and reintegration. It explores a wide variety of subjects in these areas, including relevant provisions in the Global Compact for Migration, assisted voluntary return and reintegration (AVRR), specific safeguards for the return and reintegration of children and their families, the role of local governments in the implementation of sustainable reintegration policies, and how to define and measure sustainable reintegration to inform evidence-based programming and policies. 

This special issue includes articles by experts and practitioners from the Migration Policy Institute, Samuel Hall, UNICEF and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as well as the Mayor of Zacatecoluca in El Salvador.