The return migration of highly-qualified workers in Bulgaria and in Bosnia and Herzegovina – policies and returnees’ responsesVanya IvanovaThe return migration of highly-qualified workers in Bulgaria and in Bosnia and Herzegovina

In this article, two cases of return migration are analysed, revealing the phe- nomenon in two different contexts (post-socialist Bulgaria and post-conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina) with a focus on return policies as regards highly-qualified young people. The time period of the analysis covers the last 25 years, starting with the opening of the borders and the fall of the communist regime in Bulgaria (in 1989) and the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (in 1995). A comparative con- clusion follows the analysis of each country, while the article also incorporates the views of a sample of returnees. Both countries have made steps towards the cre- ation and adoption of return policies, and have implemented practical activities to attract the return of highly-qualified young emigrants who are recognised as a re- source that can meet demographic and economic challenges. The measures are, perhaps, more advanced in Bosnia and Herzegovina (on paper); in both, it is not the adoption of policies that are driving returnees, but the returnees themselves who are driving such adoption.