Samenvatting

The notion that it is a migrant’s ‘own responsibility’ to return if he or she can no longer stay in the Netherlands is one of the foundational principles of return policy. It is a crucial instrument for the government to deal with the many dilemmas that arise during return procedures. If this individual responsibility remains too broadly defined, however, it can have far-reaching implications for the human rights of the individual. It can also mask the responsibilities of other actors in the return procedure, notably those of the expelling government and the country of return. This article looks at two elements where the individual responsibility of migrants for return needs to be limited: in relation to the destinations to which he or she must try to return, and in terms of the actions he or she can and cannot be expected to take to seek readmission and obtain travel documents. The article concludes with a plea for a more nuanced and limited use of the notion of individual responsibility in return procedures.