THE PROCESS OF INTEGRATION OF THE RETURNEE IMIGRANTS’ CHILDREN IN THE HOME COUNTRY: EXPECTATIONS AND REALITY

Migration processes that are taking place in the world have received ample attention in Europe and in Latvia as well. Return migrants comprise a very heterogeneous pool of population with a wide variety of reasons to return. There is a growing body of literature on return migration in developing countries, and recently, return migration has been a focus of discussion in Eastern European countries as well. The analyses of return migration process require to consider contextual and situational factors, as well as various micro and macro factors that influence the decision of returnees to come home.

The aim of this study is to explore the process of integration of children of the return families in a comprehensive school system in Latvia.
The methodology employed in this study is a questionnaire for comprehensive school teachers with the aim to identify obstacles of a successful integration of children from the return immigrant families in schools and well as facilitating factors of their integration. The authors also have analyzed the support mechanisms and the key factors influencing the reintegration process of children of returnee migrants.

It was concluded that the issue needs to be seen though the sustainability perspective by evaluation political, economic, social and culture dimensions of integration of children from the return families in comprehensive schools, as well with the involvement of multiple stakeholders.