This article
examines the dynamics of voluntary return migration to the Kurdistan region of
Iraq (KRI) in the post-Saddam period and provides a contextualized analysis of
the returnees’ experiences in a rapidly shifting geopolitical situation in
Kurdistan. It specifically focuses on examining how diasporans’ motivations to return,
as well as their plans to re-return, are shaped in relation to their
experiences in host societies and in the ‘homeland’. Drawing from qualitative interviews,
it shows that Kurdish diasporans’ return can be characterized as ‘diasporic
homecoming’ as it is motivated by the desire to contribute to the economic and
political development of the KRI. However, the mismatch between expectations
and ‘homeland’ realities combined with positive experiences and social capital
accumulated in the host country makes plans for re-return more foreseeable and
less risky.