Agnieszka Radziwinowiczówna.
2026.
Organised returns from the United Kingdom
CMR Working Papers 142/200 | pages: 20
Abstract
Brexit has fundamentally reshaped the United Kingdom’s immigration system, yet organised returns from the UK remain strikingly under-examined. As return practices have evolved following the end of EU free movement, there is a clear need for a systematic framework that can capture this complexity. This working paper responds to that gap by proposing a comprehensive catalogue of organised returns from the UK.
I define organised return as the movement of a person out of the territory of a state to a country in which they previously resided, mediated by an institution external to the individual concerned. Organisation
may involve financing, the coordination of travel logistics, persuading individuals to return, and extend to the use of direct coercive measures against the returning person. The paper identifies ten distinct types
of organised return: administrative removal, deportation, the Early Removal Scheme, enforced return, the European Arrest Warrant, extradition (TaCA warrant), international reconnection, port return, transfer of sentenced persons, and voluntary return.
For each category, the catalogue specifies the responsible authorities, affected populations, applicable re-entry bans, degrees of coercion, and the availability of official data. The paper also maps the relationships and overlaps between different return mechanisms, highlighting how they interact within the broader UK return system. Overall, the catalogue reveals a complex architecture involving multiple state and non-state actors across jurisdictions. It further shows that coercive and highly coercive forms of return predominate, leaving individuals with limited autonomy over their mobility.
Keywords
Brexit, deportation, enforced return, organised return, re-entry bars, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK)
