IOM helps more than 81,000 migrants return home from 115 countries

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says it helped more than 81,000 migrants return to their countries of origin or places where they had the legal right to stay in 2025, through its Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programmes.

The figure covers people who specifically sought IOM’s assistance and should not be interpreted as the total number of migrants returned globally, the organisation said.

IOM explained that its work on migrant returns operates through two distinct channels: AVRR, which is initiated by migrants who choose to return, and post-arrival assistance for people who have been returned through operations conducted by governments or other actors.

Under AVRR, migrants make the decision to return and request IOM’s assistance. The organisation said it does not initiate returns or enforce deportations.

Before assistance is provided, IOM conducts individual counselling to give migrants information about their available options and the support it can provide. Those who decide to proceed give written consent and can withdraw from the process without consequences.

Support can include travel and logistical arrangements, assistance with obtaining identity and travel documents, vulnerability screening, individual needs assessments and specialised assistance for people in vulnerable situations, including unaccompanied children, trafficking victims and people with health needs.

IOM also provides post-arrival and reintegration assistance, which it said is aimed at supporting economic self-sufficiency, psychosocial wellbeing and social stability.

In 2025, the agency said it assisted more than 81,000 people to return from 115 countries through AVRR and supported more than 82,000 people with reintegration across 147 countries of origin.

The organisation stressed that AVRR is separate from deportation or forced removal, which are carried out by governments.

Assistance after deportation

IOM said its role is different when governments conduct deportations or other forms of enforced removal.

In such cases, the receiving government may ask IOM to provide assistance to people after they arrive. The organisation said it does not operate the removals, participate in decisions to deport individuals, negotiate bilateral removal agreements or determine the legal framework governing the operations.

Its involvement begins only after arrival and only when requested by the receiving state.

Where migrants are returned to their countries of origin, IOM may provide healthcare, counselling, protection screening, essential services and reintegration support, subject to an independent protection assessment.

The assessment is intended to establish that the person has been formally admitted, that their rights and dignity can be protected, that conditions allow IOM to operate and that meaningful consent can be obtained.

IOM said it will not provide assistance where those safeguards cannot be met.

Third-country removals

The organisation also distinguishes cases in which migrants are removed to a country other than their country of origin.

Such transfers can occur under agreements between states. IOM said it does not negotiate or endorse such agreements and does not participate in the transfers themselves.

Where a receiving government requests assistance, IOM may provide healthcare, counselling and protection screening, subject to the same safeguards applied to returns to countries of origin.

Migrants in a third country who subsequently decide to return voluntarily to their country of origin can request IOM assistance under its standard AVRR procedures.

The organisation said it assesses safeguards such as legal stay arrangements, freedom of movement and access to international protection before agreeing to intervene. Where these conditions cannot be secured, it may decline involvement or limit the assistance provided.

IOM said it does not force people to return, conduct deportations or forced removals, negotiate or endorse bilateral removal agreements, or provide assistance where its involvement could contribute to refoulement, discrimination or violations of procedural safeguards.

About 800 people assisted after US third-country removals

IOM said public reporting indicated that tens of thousands of people were removed from the United States to third countries between the beginning of 2025 and September 2026.

However, the organisation said its involvement in such cases has remained limited because it can only assist when requested by the receiving government and when its required protection safeguards are in place.

As of September 2026, IOM said it had supported roughly 800 people in this context, providing healthcare, counselling and protection screening. About 300 of those people later chose to return voluntarily to their countries of origin.

The organisation said the disparity between the roughly 800 people it assisted and the tens of thousands reportedly removed reflects the limited number of governments that requested IOM’s support and cases in which the conditions required for its involvement were not met.