Voluntary return and reintegration

All victims of human trafficking are offered an Assisted Voluntary Return, in accordance with the Danish National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings. 

The Assisted Voluntary Return includes reintegration support. The support is granted by the Danish Return Agency (DRA) as either in-kind support or as cash support. Majority of returning victims receive in-kind support, meaning that the reintegration activities are facilitated by local partner organisations in the respective countries of return.

Cash support is only granted to victims, who are returning to countries where the Danish Return Agency does not have a local partnership agreement. In cases where the reintegration support is granted as cash, the Danish Centre against Human Trafficking and the Danish Return Agency give counsel the victims before the return on how to use the grant best and most sustainably.

Before the victim travels to the country of return, the case manager from the Danish Centre against Human Trafficking fills in a risk assessment in collaboration with the returnee. The assessment covers risks related to the travel and reintegration, such as victim’s family and network, health issues, debts, and fear of persecution from the traffickers.

The risk assessment is sent to the Danish Return Agency. The Danish Return Agency shares this information with Danish Refugee Council (DRC), which is the Danish Return Agency’s entry point to the European Reintegration Support Organisations (ERSO) network. The European Reintegration Support Organisations network is in turn responsible for partnerships with local organisations in the country of return. If there are special concerns, these are discussed with the Danish Refugee Council and mentioned to the local reintegration partner before the victim’s return. 

The returnee, together with a local partner organisation, creates the reintegration plan and a budget for the requested in-kind assistance. The plan should reflect the victim’s wishes and needs for the future and include activities that are sustainable and realistic. The Danish Return Agency has to approve the reintegration activities along with an accompanying budget, before the reintegration activities can be carried out. The most common reintegration activities that the Danish Return Agency supports are:

• Income-generating activities, such as business start-up
• Vocational training and/or educational activities
• Temporary accommodation, housing and/or purchasing of household supplies.

The current rates of reintegration support are as follows: 

• 40 000 DKK in-kind plus 10 000 DKK in cash
• 9 000 DKK in-kind per minor child, plus an additional 10 000 DKK in cash in supplementary parental support

The rates of full cash support follow the rates of in-kind grants.