Work

Return and readmission policy in Europe: Development, implementation, impact and controversies

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This introductory article presents the aims, context, and main findings of a symposium on return and readmission policies in Europe. It situates contemporary return policy within the historical transformation of European migration governance, from postwar labor recruitment and refugee protection to the politicization, securitization, and administrative intensification of removal. Drawing on eight national case studies covering seven EU member states and the United Kingdom, the article examines how return and readmission have become central organizing principles of migration governance. It identifies common patterns across the cases, including deterrence, detention, externalization, accelerated procedures, expanded discretion, weakened safeguards, and the production of deportability and legal limbo. The article argues that these developments reveal not merely technical changes in migration administration, but increasingly visible authoritarian tendencies within European return governance.

Source: Critical Sociology

DOI: 10.1177/08969205261481979

Authors: Zoran Slavnic, Branka Likic-Brboric, Aida Ibricevic

Institution: Linköping University

Language: English

Topic: Gender and Women's Rights

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,650