NUEVAS ACTIVIDADES O TAREAS CON NECESIDADES FORMATIVAS

Return migration refers to “the movement of a person returning to his/her country of origin or habitual residence usually after spending at least one year in another country” (International Organization for Migration, 2004, p. 56).

Return migration was earlier seen as the end of a migration cycle as it is being defined as simply returning home. The simple definition of return as situation in which migrants return to their home country does not capture the concrete situations that migrants are in. Return for many migrants, for instance, does not necessarily mean a permanent return but a temporary return and can just be a prelude for later episodes of spatial mobility (Cassarino, 2004 as cited in Haour-Knipe and Davies, 2008). Return migration can be viewed as a phase and not necessarily the end of the migration process.

Dummont and Spielvogel (2008) view return migration as a case of re- emigration to differentiate it with secondary emigration. Return migration is re- emigration in which the new country of destination is the same as the country of origin while secondary emigration is re-emigration when the new country of destination is different from the country of origin. Vadean and Piracha (2009) stated that after returning to the country of origin, migrants have two options: one to stay permanently (permanent return) or re-emigrate to another country (circular migration). Circular migration is defined by them as “the repeated back and forth movements between the home country and one or more countries of destinations” (p.1).

“Return migration is not a homogenous phenomenon. Different migrant populations which vary in terms of reasons and circumstances of return, etc. return to their home countries. That would explain why there exist different typologies of return migration/migrant returnees that are offered by different scholars” (Battistella, 2018).

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Two sets of typologies of return migration offered by King and Battistella are discussed here. These typologies are pertinent in this study of the phenomenon of successful return migration of Filipinos.

King (2000 as cited in Haour-Knipe & Davies, 2008) provided several ways of classifying return and their corresponding types of return migration. These are summarized in the following table:

Table 1 Typologies of Return Migration (King, 2000)

Ways of Viewing Return Types of Return Migration

Seeing the return of migrants by the development of their host countries and home countries

1. return from less developed to more highly developed countries

2. return from developed industrial countries to less developed home countries

3. return from and to countries of equal economic status

Seeing the return of migrants by the length of time that they spent in their home country

1. occasional returns: when migrants make short-term and periodic visits to home country (i.e. to see relatives, to stay for a holiday and other reasons) 2. seasonal returns as dictated by the nature of job of the migrant

3. temporary returns: when migrant returns home, but later, re-emigrate abroad

4. permanent returns: when migrant resettles in the home country for good

Distinguishing between the intention and actual migration outcome

1. migrant intends to return and in fact, returns home: the migrant goes abroad with a specific aim in mind and returns home when the target is reached 2. migrant intends to temporary work abroad, but return is continuously postponed until it never happens because of various reasons

3. migrant intends to permanently work and live abroad but eventually returns because of personal and external reasons

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Ways of Viewing Return Types of Return Migration

4. migrant intends to permanently stay abroad and does not return yet but the idea of return is still seen as important

Seeing the return of migrants by the evolution of the migration process and of acculturation (from Cerase, 1970 and adapted by King)

1. return of retirement: when migrant reaches retirement age and returns home

2. return of failure: when migrant fails to adapt to host country and returns home 3. return of conservatism: when migrant returns after successful achievement of goals

4. return of innovation: when migrant remains in the host country beyond the target time of return, and may have adapted to the host country's cultural values, but later realized that his/her acculturation can never be complete and thus, returns home. He/She believes that the skills he/she has acquired

abroad makes him/her as an ‘agent of change'.

Source: Haour-Knipe & Davies, 2008, p.7.

Battistella (2018) offered a continuum of types of return that utilized two considerations: 1) time of return of migrant (before or at the end of the migration project) and 2) decision to return of migrant (voluntary and involuntary).

Return migration can then be classified as:

“Return of achievement: the migrant returns voluntarily at the end of the

migration project (or contract) having achieved the purpose for which he or she went abroad.

Return of completion: the migrant returns after completing the contract, but it

is not a voluntary return, because the migrant would like to stay abroad for another period or to go abroad again; however, it is not possible.

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Return of setback: the migrant returns voluntarily but before the end of the

migration process, for various reasons, including unhappiness at working conditions, family reasons, experience of abuse, or trafficking. It is a setback from the perspective of the original migration project.

Return of crisis (forced return): caused by situations like political upheaval or

environmental disaster; It is an involuntary return: the migrant is forced to leave for reasons of security or political decisions made by the country of origin or destination. This scenario can also include the repatriation of irregular migrants” (Battistella, 2018).

This study focuses on permanent and successful return of migrants who returned from developed industrial countries to less developed home countries, in this case the Philippines. Hence, the types of return offered by Cerase and adapted by King, specifically return of retirement, return of failure, return of conservatism and return of innovation and Battistela’s return of achievement are of prime interest to this study. These types or categories of