Refugee return migration: Return migration from Sweden to Chile, Iran and Poland 1973-1996

In this paper, return migration from Sweden to three sources of refugee immigration is analysed, with a focus on the effect of political change in 1990. Chilean immigrants reacted more strongly to political liberalization in the home country than Polish immigrants did, primarily due to more favourable economic circumstances in Chile compared to Poland in the 1990s. In fact, the increase in Polish return migration propensity after 1990 is not statistically different from the Iranian increase, in spite of the absence of political liberalization in Iran. There are significant cohort differences within the Chilean group, indicating an element of economically motivated migration within the last waves of Chilean refugee immigration in the late 1980s. Hence, successful implementation of schemes of voluntary return migration for refugees will not only be dependent on an improved political situation in the source country, but will also be highly dependent on economic circumstances.