Developing Home? Transnational and Translocal Return Migration To Ghana

Since the late 1990s a number of Ghanaian migrants living in Western countries have returned to Ghana for shorter or longer periods of time. Return migrants are widely regarded as having potential – and responsibility – for contributing to development in Ghana and are courted as development agents by the Ghanaian government and other policy makers. This perception is shared by some returnees who see themselves as having obtained knowledge and resources through their experiences abroad. However there are different types of returnees and they perceive themselves and are received in different ways.

This paper presents a case study of return migrants from Europe to Ghana, examining three different types of returnees: recent returnees who have returned because of economic turmoil in Europe since 2008; voluntary returnees who have been in Ghana for more than ten years; and involuntary returnees such as deportees. Its aim is to analyze what the modes of return mean for how returnees articulate their return; how they are received locally; how they engage themselves socially, politically and economically; and finally, the responsibilities and challenges they face when returned.

It shows that in many ways the position and engagement of ‘successful’ transnational return migrants resemble that of the local elites who have made it in the capital or other big towns: migrants who are (are perceived to be) successful are expected to contribute to their families and hometown communities no matter whether they have migrated to Europe, other places in Africa, or inside Ghana. The reception of migrants who have received because of deportation or economic problems, however, is more ambivalent and depend to a large degree on what return migrants have managed to remit back either during their migration or when returning.