Paper short abstract:

The study presents the conditions under which migrants participate in the labour market of the home country after return. Transnationalism describes return migration as a circular movement however; evidence of permanent return, calls for an exploration of transnational links after return.

Paper long abstract:

Does transnational link matter after return? The study presents the conditions under which migrants participate in the labour market of the home country. Though transnationalism describes return migration as a circular movement, there is still evidence of permanent return. Therefore there is the need to explore how returnees utilize their transnational links after return. Structured questionnaires were used to gather information on pre and post-return experiences. This was followed by in-depth-interviews and observations which primarily looked at labour participation of migrants in the home country. The study focuses on Ghana since various governments of Ghana have pursued different return migration programmes since the early 1990's with the aim of attracting especially skilled Ghanaian nationals abroad. The study finds that Return migrants keep ties with host countries for the sake of businesses and other benefits which may not be readily available in the home country.