Soft deportation? A multi-perspective study of ‘voluntary’ return programs in Belgium

Migration policies increasingly prioritize ‘voluntary’ return as a ‘soft’ alternative to traditional ‘hard’
return measures such as deportation. Yet scholars challenge its true voluntariness often
characterizing such programs as ‘soft deportation’. While soft penal power has been widely studied in
penology, a similar approach within the field of ‘border criminology’ remains underexplored. This
research aims to (1) deepen our theoretical understanding of the growing role of ‘soft power’ in
global migration control, and (2) substantiate this framework with empirical insights into Belgium’s
Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programs. Using a multi-perspective approach,
the research explores the implementation of AVRR across regional, linguistic (Flanders/Brussels/
Walloon) and organizational borders (state/non-state actors) in Belgium. Through innovative
methods like institutional mapping and diaries, alongside traditional ethnographic techniques, the
study examines how (soft) power dynamics and associated strategies and harms shape both
institutional processes and migrants’ lived experiences of ‘voluntary’ return. Anticipated results
include a deeper understanding of (1) the practical implementation of AVRR programs including their
implications for migrants, state and non-state actors, and society, and (2) different dynamics of
institutional (soft) power across Belgium’s linguistic and organizational borders, shaping the rationale
and execution of AVRR policies.