Shall We Stay or Shall We Go? Re-migration trends among Britain's immigrants

Article

This report looks in detail at the available datasets so that we can see the numbers re-migrating and get a clearer picture of who is going and why. We have also gathered new evidence through open surveys and through research in six case study countries, which involved extensive interviewing of people who have re-migrated from the UK.

In this report ippr sets out to quantify and analyse re-migration from the United Kingdom, and to understand what motivates immigrants to leave. The phenomenon of re-migration - in other words the emigration of immigrants - has not, on the whole, been well documented or understood. But policymakers should care about re-migration and know more about those leaving.

This is particularly necessary at a time when the processes for controlling and managing immigration are being tightened, with the aim of selecting immigrants on the basis of their skills. International competition for highly-skilled migrants is intensifying and it makes no sense for the UK to succeed in attracting such migrants only to lose them quickly because of re-migration.

Our report is based on a major international research project ippr undertook in 2008. It uses a wide range of original qualitative research undertaken in a number of countries and involves a comprehensive analysis of all the data relating to re-migration. In mapping an often hidden migration flow we hope it will help all levels of UK government to better manage migration to and from the UK, as well as contribute to international policy debates about onward migration, super-mobility and reintegration of returned migrants in their home countries.

Various case studies published with this report can be found here.

Related items

  1. Doctor with patient for consultation, medical advice or procedure at clinic

    Taken to heart: Inequalities in heart disease in Scotland

    More than 7.6 million people across the UK live with cardiovascular disease (CVD), around twice as many as live with Alzheimer’s disease and cancer combined. 
  2. A beautiful sunset in the Scottish highlands with renewable energy wind turbines far into the horizon

    Skills passports: An essential part of a fair transition

    This month, government will publish its Clean Energy Workforce Strategy. This plan covers two aims. First, filling the growing demand for skills in clean energy industries is essential to keep on track to reach the government’s clean power…
  3. The Bank of England is watched over by a statue of the Duke of Wellington seated on his horse

    Fixing the leak: How to end the £22 billion annual taxpayer losses at the Bank of England

    The Bank of England increased its interest rates over recent years, aimed at reducing inflation. But this has also had an unintended effect on the Bank of England’s massive government bond buying – ‘quantitative easing’ – programme.