Return Migration. La migrazione di ritorno come strumento di sviluppo: il caso della Tunisia

Migration and development are reciprocally correlated. Return migration, in particular, appears to have a major impact on both migrants' lives and origin countries. This Dissertation aims to investigate the specific characteristics of return migration, by focusing on returnees and analysing that stage of the migratory process from their perspective. The reasons behind migrants' decision to emigrate and then return, their expectations before leaving and opportunities after returning are some of the crucial elements that I will take into consideration. I will pay a special attention to the case of Tunisian returnees from Italy, relying on the results of various surveys on the issue. In addition, I will use the interviews that I have carried out in Tunisia with Tunisian return migrants who worked and lived in Italy. The combination of secondary and primary data will be useful to compare theoretical analysis with fieldwork findings, in order to understand the real impact of the migratory process on the lives of return migrants.