E.g., 07/24/2026
E.g., 07/24/2026

Circular Migration: Research

Cover image for From Exile to Return
Reports
April 2026

The fall of Syria’s Assad regime has raised questions in high-income countries about when displaced Syrians will return home. Similar conversations are underway about the nearly 7 million displaced Ukrainians. This report examines the complexity of facilitating returns without imperiling reconstruction, fueling additional displacement, and uprooting well-integrated workers and members of host societies.

Cover image for Exploring Refugees’ Intentions to Return to Ukraine
Reports
December 2024

The European response to displacement from Ukraine has been unprecedented. Yet as the war has stretched on, uncertainty has grown about whether and when refugees will be able to return home. This report examines a wide range of personal, host-country, and origin-country factors that contribute to refugees’ intentions to return or stay abroad, and what this means for the ongoing policy response in European host countries.

Cover image for Construyendo vías regulares para abordar presiones migratorias...
Reports
June 2024

Los países a través de las Américas intentan gestionar eficazmente la migración. La meta es facilitar el movimiento a beneficio de las sociedades receptoras, los migrantes y sus países de origen y a la vez disuadir las llegadas irregulares. Pero como explora este informe, crear vías legales que sean alternatives reales a la migración irregular requerirá un esfuerzo concertado.

Cover image for Building on Regular Pathways to Address Migration Pressures in the Americas
Reports
June 2024

Countries across the Americas are grappling with how to effectively manage migration. The aim is to facilitate movement in a way that benefits receiving societies, migrants, and their origin countries, while discouraging irregular arrivals. But creating legal pathways that represent real alternatives to irregular migration remains a challenge and will require concerted effort, as this report explores.

Cover image for The State of Global Mobility in the Aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Reports
April 2024

While human mobility globally has largely recovered from its pandemic-era drop, it is undergoing considerable change. The causes are diverse, from climate shocks and shifting economic conditions to conflict-induced displacement. This report explores how the scale and characteristics of cross-border movement are evolving post-pandemic, featuring case studies from different world regions.

Cover image for Mobility Shutdown
Reports
March 2024

Some of the strictest COVID-19 pandemic-era limits on human mobility occurred in the Asia Pacific region. Border closures started in East and Southeast Asia in early 2020 and quickly spread through the entire region, in some cases remaining in place for more than two years. This report examines the approaches countries took and reflects on the immense costs and benefits of using border measures to tackle public-health risks.

Cover image for Diverging Paths
Reports
March 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts on mobility in the Middle East and North Africa were immediate and wide-reaching. These include the world’s largest and most sustained repatriation efforts for stranded migrants, halted and reversed irregular journeys, and a reckoning with some countries’ reliance on foreign labor. This report examines how these impacts varied across countries in this highly diverse region, as well as the uneven recovery.

Cover image for Migration and Displacement in Secondary Cities
Reports
November 2023

Small and mid-sized cities are some of the fastest growing in many parts of the world, including sub-Saharan Africa. Yet life in these cities can present a variety of challenges for migrants and displaced persons. This report examines these challenges in secondary cities in Côte d’Ivoire and Uganda, and how local, national, and civil-society actors are working to address them.

Cover image for Migration Narratives in Northern Central America
Reports
June 2023

El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have long histories of emigration, but are seeing increasing transit and return migration as well. This report explores the stories told within these three countries about migration in all its forms, how these narratives intersect with (and at times, contradict) each other, and how they influence policy decisions and public opinion.

Cover image for Programas de trabajadores temporales en Canadá, México y Costa Rica
Reports
June 2022

La migración irregular desde El Salvador, Guatemala y Honduras se ha convertido en una de las principales características del panorama migratorio en Centroamérica y Norteamérica, pero existen pocas vías legales para los centroamericanos que se ven presionados a emigrar. Este informe explora cómo Canadá, México y Costa Rica podrían utilizar los programas de trabajo temporal existentes para ampliar las opciones de migración legal.

Cover image for Temporary Worker Programs in Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica
Reports
June 2022

Irregular migration from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras has become a dominant feature of the migration landscape in Central and North America, yet few legal pathways exist for Central Americans facing pressure to emigrate. This report explores how Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica could use existing temporary worker programs to expand legal migration options while also helping fill their labor shortages.

Cover image for Migración de Huehuetenango en el Altiplano Occidental de Guatemala
Reports
March 2022

Desde principios de la década de 2010, la migración irregular de Guatemala a Estados Unidos ha aumentado drásticamente. Huehuetenango, un departamento en el Altiplano Occidental de Guatemala, se encuentra entre las principales fuentes de esta emigración. Este estudio examina los patrones y factores impulsores de la emigración de Huehuetenango, así como las posibles estrategias para abordar factores de empuje y creación de alternativas a la migración irregular.

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