Mrs. Alexandra comes from Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe. She left for Slovakia to make some money and pay back all of her debts. “In Slovakia I was working as a cleaning lady and I paid back all my debts,” says Mrs. Alexandra.

At the beginning of 2012 she was detained by the Slovak Alien Police and threatened with deportation back to Moldova.  In this complicated situation IOM stepped into her life and helped her return back home within the framework of the Assisted voluntary return and reintegration programme. “At the beginning I didn’t believe it but I had nothing to lose…,“ confesses Mrs. Alexandra her initial distrust. After gaining more experience with the IOM staff all her doubts disappeared: “They are very good people, they helped me and supported me.”

The assistance provided by IOM also continued after returning back to Moldova, where her destroyed and uninhabitable house was waiting for her: “I had nothing, everything was destroyed and in a catastrophic state. IOM supplied me with the building material and I renovated everything. IOM completely changed my life in Moldova; I have a place to stay now. “

Watch the video story of this woman and IOM assistance:

You can find more true stories of migrants who returned home from Slovakia with the help of IOM under the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration Programme on the website www.avr.iom.sk.

(Personal names were published with their consent. / Names were changed for protection reasons.)

The AVRR is co-funded by the European Union from the European Return Fund and the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic. Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows.