The Budapest Process convened return & reintegrtaion experts in Istanbul on 25 November 2025 for a focused Workshop with a focus on return migration and reintegration in the Silk Routes Region.
The meeting structured as a series of high-level discussions sought to translate the 2024 Ministerial Declaration and its Call for Action into a revised and more operational Roadmap on Return and Reintegration.
Return and reintegration have stood at the core of the Budapest Process since 2017, supported by successive political documents and a dedicated Thematic Working Group established in 2023 with continued changes in policy and in practice in the past 3 years.
In the first session, delegates from Silk Routes countries debated how to restructure the document so that it reflects emerging priorities such as data-driven planning, multi-stakeholder cooperation, and the mainstreaming of reintegration within national development systems rather than treating reintegration as a stand-alone activity.
Participants emphasised that for the revised Roadmap to be credible, it must move beyond lists of actions and instead articulate realistic programming priorities, identify national capacity gaps, and define how partnerships, including civil society and the private sector, can be strengthened to ensure continuity of support.
A cornerstone of the workshop was the presentation of a draft knowledge product examining reintegration realities in Bangladesh, Iraq and Pakistan. The research underscored that reintegration is not linear and unfolds across three interlinked levels – individual, community and structural – and outcomes depend as much on social acceptance, identity, and the strength of local institutions as on financial assistance.
The analysis reinforced a key conclusion, effective reintegration is possible only when structural barriers are acknowledged, national systems are engaged, and community-based approaches complement economic measures. The final report is to be shared in early 2026 with the Budapest Process partners.
The workshop concluded with a shared understanding that the Roadmap must be updated to reflect recent political commitments and to ensure genuine alignment between policymaking and lived realities in Silk Routes countries. The recommendations brought forward point towards a more ambitious agenda. Türkiye, Sweden and the Budapest Process Secretariat closed the meeting by emphasising the need for continuity: the Roadmap should remain a living tool, capable of guiding cooperation as migration dynamics evolve. Participants agreed that the discussions would be shared with the TWG on Return and Reintegration and that further workshops on this topic should be organised.
