Islamabad, Pakistan: As of September 2025, the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), through the Sustainable Reintegration of Returnees and Improved Migration Management in Pakistan (RoR) project and established Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs) begun its collaboration with WELDO, an organisation which provides return, reintegration and resettlement services in Pakistan.
The collaboration initially focused on providing immediate reintegration assistance to returnees at 3 major airports in Lahore, Peshawar and Islamabad. These services include food, shelter, transportation and communication support. As of January 2026, the servicing has been expanded further to additionally provide sustainable reintegration services to those returning to Pakistan from abroad, with the aim of facilitating their successful reintegration back into life in the country. The services will be offered and delivered simultaneously by the Migration Resource Centres (MRCs) in joint collaboration between ICMPD and the Government of Pakistan with WELDO as the contracted Service Provider. The ambition is to service up to 7,500 returnees by the end of 2027, on top of the 5,000 returnees receiving immediate support at the airports. Support will be provided in a number of areas, including Reintegration Counselling which will provide those returning with individualised counselling relevant to their reintegration process. Psychosocial Counselling will also be provided and will focus on trauma-informed mental health support, tailored to individuals facing post-traumatic stress, grief or anxiety on account of their experiences. Services will also include guidance in developing sustainable businesses and tailored skills development based on individual capacities and aspirations, as well as legal counselling and tailored support to vulnerable returnees who are faced with significant traumas and practical challenges in their reintegration process.
WELDO is a well-established reintegration service partner in Pakistan, having provided service provision under several programmes and initiatives in the past decade. WELDO’s mission is to provide impartial returns and reintegration services to returnees coming back to Pakistan through health, social, economic, and psychosocial support measures. The partnership with WELDO enables large scale reintegration operations to enable high quality service provision adapted to the local context as well as effective coordination between programmes to secure complementarity and avoid duplications of efforts.
The services on offer through the RoR project, in collaboration with WELDO, work to ensure that those returning have sustainable options for reintegration, supporting them as they transition back into life in Pakistan, rebuild their lives and contribute to their communities in a meaningful way. This is done through a careful needs-based case management approach where the returnee’s needs are placed at the centre.
These activities are organised as part of the ‘Sustainable Reintegration of Returnees and Improved Migration Management in Pakistan’ (RoR) project, part of broader support of the European Union, in partnership with ICMPD, to Pakistan’s efforts in building a national reintegration system. It links with the already established network of Migrant Resource Centres (MRCs) in Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar with the support of ICMPD. The concept of MRC paired with government capacity building in many migration-related areas, including return and reintegration, has been established and developed in Pakistan and numerous other countries in Central Asia and the Silk Routes region.
