Siziwe came to Ireland from South Africa with her son in 2005. She did not have a work permit but hoped to find a job that would provide her family with a better life. After four years, however, Siziwe was unemployed and could not find housing. She consulted the South African Embassy about her situation, and they referred her to IOM.

After speaking with IOM staff, Siziwe learned that she and her son could be assisted with organizing their travel papers and with the cost of their return to South Africa. IOM also offered a reintegration grant, which Siziwe could use to return to school.
Siziwe and her son returned to South Africa in 2009. She immediately applied for the reintegration grant so that she could pay her son’s school fees. Siziwe also enrolled in school, and is working toward a degree in International Relations and Diplomacy. “IOM’s reintegration assistance really helped me to settle back home with few financial problems.”

IOM Pretoria contacted Siziwe six months after she returned to monitor her reintegration.

Ireland was okay for us, but home is home. There is no place like home.

Simon left South Africa for security reasons in 2008 and went to Ireland, which he thought of as a quiet country that would bring him the stability and peace he was looking for. Simon declared himself in Dublin airport as an asylum seeker. Although he was nearly denied entry, he ultimately was placed in an accommodation centre and began the process of applying for refugee status.

A few months later, his wife Esihle brought their three children to Ireland. They were placed in a separate centre, so Simon wrote a letter to RIA requesting that they be reunited. “The place was okay,” Esihle described. “The most important thing was to have a shelter over my head with my kids. So it was okay, though after some time I started losing my mind. I couldn´t cope.”

Simon felt the same. Without being able to work or to study in the centre, he became frustrated. “My mind was going off,” he recalls. “I started thinking a lot. And as a family man, getting €19.20 per week is not normal.”

Simon and Esihle talked about their situation and decided, as a family, to return to South Africa in 2010, although the security situation that caused them to leave had not yet been resolved.

Esihle was the first one to return with the children. She moved to her sister´s house, and used the IOM grant to begin a small sales business from home. However it was not much to start with. “As a mother with three kids, that amount was like a first aid because I had nothing. I came from that side to this one with nothing and you have to pay rent and to feed the kids. To do everything with that income didn´t take me far.”

Four years after Patience decided to go to Ireland she recalls those days and her decision with clarity. “I went to Ireland to look for a job, for a better living,” she explained. “Unfortunately, I went there in the wrong time. There were no jobs at that time, yet it was better than in South Africa.”

Then talking with IOM staff, Patience did not have many good memories to share about starting her new life in Ireland. She was struggling to pay rent and had to receive assistance from the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Finally, she became part of the asylum system and was assigned housing in an accommodation centre. “Life was difficult even in the camp [accommodation centre], so I decided to come back home.”

Patience had found information about IOM online. “I saw IOM on the internet, so I called them and they told me to go to Dublin. I went and they gave me the right information. They told me about the grant, and when I came back I applied for it directly.”
IOM prepared the paperwork required for Patience to travel, and in February 2012 she returned to South Africa where her husband was waiting for her. He had opened a small shop while she was away, so Patience used the IOM Ireland reintegration grant to buy stock for the shop.

Nothembi came to Ireland to apply for asylum in 2009. She stayed for only six months before deciding that she wished to return to South Africa. “I could not get work or study in Ireland. I decided I wanted to return home and carry on with my life.” Nothembi spoke with her solicitor, who told her that IOM could provide assistance for her return.

After she returned, Nothembi received support from her friends and family until she decided what to do. She did not feel she had enough experience or funding to start her own business, so Nothembi decided to look for training opportunities. She applied for IOM’s reintegration grant to get a Call Centre training certificate. She received the training through a computer skills centre, who immediately began placing her for temporary jobs. With the certificate, she is also able to apply for more permanent employment through the same company.

 
After her employer promised to secure her a work visa in 2007, Nadia came to Irelandand settled in an apartment. After six months, however, Nadia’s work permit had not materialised. When her travel visa expired, she was anxious about her financial situation, and about the fact that she was now undocumented in Ireland. She decided to return to South Africa and contacted the Gardaí for advice. They put her in touch with IOM, who assisted Nadia in returning to South Africa.
Nadia described her first months in South Africa as, “starting over from scratch,” but now she feels confident that returning was the right choice. With the support of family and friends, she found a job as a restaurant manager. After a month, she also began receiving reintegration assistance from IOM Pretoria so that she could become a fitness instructor. Nadia was not able to complete the training immediately but says that she is, “going to carry on from day to day and hopefully finish the fitness course.”

If you can´t get social welfare in Ireland, if you are not working, it is better to go to your home country where you can get your family support.

Khabane was working in a café in South Africa when a friend of his, who lived in Ireland, encouraged him to move to Dublin in 2007. Khabane did some research and enrolled in college to study Information Technology. Of his decision to move, he explained, “I came to further my studies and seek a better life.” He went to classes during the evening and worked 20 hours per week as a kitchen porter.
When his course ended, things changed. “I finished my studies and I got a full time job,” he remembered. “It was difficult to do further studies, it interfered with them.” Khabane carried on his life in Ireland until he lost his job. Without a current visa, he could not get hired again. Life was too expensive to stay there so he decided to return to South Africa. He did so in June 2011, seven years after he first moved to Ireland.
Khabane narrated his trip in detail:
I got information about IOM from a friend of mine and I got more information from the internet. Fortunately the office was in Dublin, so I walked there and they gave me more information. I decided to go home with the help of IOM. I transited in France; a guy from IOM came to assist me. It was a safe journey. Once in South Africa, as IOM gave me some cash for transport, I took a cab to the train station and from there a train to my hometown.
Once he arrived, Khabane found out that “many things have changed in South Africa, not for the better but for the worse.” However, his parents and friends welcomed him and made him feel at home. He told IOM at that time, “I find it hard to settle in my country. Ireland suits me.” Although Khabane missed Ireland, he felt he made the best choice to return to South Africa. “I can now be free and not worry about any visas. I can sleep peacefully.”
Soon after he returned, Khabane contacted the IOM office in Pretoria to apply for the IOM reintegration grant, which he used to begin raising and selling chickens. “In a month or two months I was already selling chickens.”

Irene came to Ireland in 2007. She applied for asylum and lived for three years in an accommodation centre. However, in 2010, she decided that she wanted to return to her family. A staff member at the accommodation centre put her in touch with IOM.
Irene applied for assisted voluntary return and went back to live with her family in South Africa. It was hard for her to leave Ireland, especially as her sister decided to remain in the asylum process.

Once in her country of origin, Irene received family support until she applied for the reintegration grant. With the fund, she started a small shop where she sells snacks and soft drinks.

In 2008, Ellen was looking online for study abroad programmes. “I wanted to better myself with a degree from abroad,” she explained. When she saw that she could work as a student in Ireland, she was excited at the opportunity. Ellen decided to move to Dublin to study business. “South Africa is an English speaking country so it wasn´t difficult for me.”
Ellen had a great experience as a student, and recalled that time in her life as an exciting and beautiful period. Unfortunately, in 2011, her mother passed away. She decided she needed to go back to South Africa to be with her family.

Ellen didn´t have the means to return, but she had heard about IOM from friends. She sent an email to the office and received assistance soon after. “I am grateful,” Ellen said. “I always think of people in my situation; it is not a nice situation to be in. And apparently there are a lot of students in Ireland from abroad that are actually struggling and suffering.”

When she learned that she could apply for an in-kind grant for her reintegration after she returned, Ellen decided to open a small cleaning business. She bought detergents and a laptop to run the business convinced that other women would use her services because “those are necessities that people need everyday.”

However, the business did not grow as well as she expected, and after six months in South Africa, Ellen did not feel she had resettled at home. She especially regretted being unable to finish her schooling. “I definitely did not find what I expected in Ireland, but I am hopeful that I can still visit one day, as I left an unfinished degree.”

Dominic had spent more than a year in Ireland as an asylum seeker in a reception centre when he decided it was time to return home. He had come to Ireland in 2011 to “find a better life”, but found it difficult to adapt to the environment of the centre because he was not allowed to work. “I am a hard worker, that situation broke me down,” he explained.

As an experienced welder, and having heard that there were many job opportunities in Ireland, he had expected to find a means of living while his application was considered. However, applying for status as a refugee left him with no option but to stay in the centre day after day. “I followed the process because I thought it was the easiest way to get a job. But a year and a half later, nothing.”

Dominic learned about IOM during an outreach session in the accommodation centre. After thinking it over, he realised, “Return is a decision taking. I felt that one and a half years without income, sitting, doing nothing was enough.”He decided to return to South Africa, to his hometown.

Although Dominic had trained as a welder, he did not have the tools required to take on any welding work. With the IOM reintegration grant, Dominic bought a welding machine and began working as a private contractor. He was able to take different jobs in town, such as repairing locks in windows and doors that had been forced. He was also able to weld security bars for small businesses and gates for local houses.