My name is Khaled. I’m 34 and I come from Tunisia. I left school to work at my parent’s vegetable store after grade 7. But my real dream was always to go to Europe. I finally made this dream come true in 2008: I crossed the Mediterranean to Italy and then made my way via France and Belgium to Germany. There I met a German woman and we got married five years later. My German gradually got better, but I still had virtually no chance of getting a job. I even lost my residence permit when we divorced, so I had to go back to Tunisia.

I'm 35 years old, from Tunisia, and my name is Wissem. I lived in Europe for a total of 15 years. It was my dream to have a good job there and start a family. But neither of these worked out. Now I've found happiness in my homeland, Tunisia. Back then I wouldn't have thought that possible.

My name is Yassine and I come from Morocco. I completed Islamic Studies in Fès, but couldn't find a job after graduating. Then I was fortunate to participate in training provided by the Promotion of Rural Youth Employment (PEJ) project.

My name is Bilal. After the financial crisis, I left Iraq and went to Germany in 2015. I wanted to find a better life there. I arrived in Germany after 12 days of travelling without proper meals or accommodation. My hope was to discover a solution to my problems.

My name is Safet and I come from Serbia. After working in my homeland for a long time as an unskilled bricklayer and decorator, I tried my luck in Germany. Although it was difficult to find a job there. So I considered returning to Serbia. Then the decision was made for me. The German authorities deported me.

My name is Jerry and I come from Nigeria. A scholarship enabled me to study engineering in the UK for a year in 2014. After that it became clear to me: I wanted to return to Nigeria and utilise my knowledge in my homeland.

My name is Igrita and I come from Albania. I emigrated to Germany with my husband and three daughters in January 2016. What did we want? A better life! It actually went well: my husband found work as a welder, I as a cleaner and the children attended school. They quickly learned German. Yet we missed our family, our friends and our culture in Albania. So we returned in January 2017.

My name is Realf and I am 25 years old. I went to Germany in early 2018 and wanted to start a career there. But after five months I realised that would be difficult without a legal status. So I returned to my homeland, Albania – then completely new opportunities opened up for me there. What happened was that

Mirëdita nga Prishtina – Hello from Pristina! I am Euresa. A few years ago, I went to Germany with my family. I was just 17 years old at the time. We wanted to build a new life there, but were refused asylum. So we returned to our homeland in mid-2016.

My name is Sadije B. I live in Kosovo, I'm 38 years old and I'm an experienced seamstress. I have even started my own small business in Obilić because I went to a reintegration programme offered by the German government. But let's start at the beginning.

I'm Kweku and I live in Ghana. After graduating from university, I initially considered emigrating. But with a little help I then actually found a job in Ghana. Now I'm making all sorts of plans for my future here in my homeland.

I was born in Gabon. My parents named me Fatou. I graduated from school in 2013. I then moved to Ghana, a neighbouring country to Gabon. I wanted to attend a language school there to improve my English. That was intended to ease my entry into Europe. Europe was my ultimate goal! I was hoping to find better prospects there.

Hi, my name is Mame S. and I come from Senegal. I lived for several years in Europe, even in Germany, but then I returned to my home country. I've kept my interest in Germany, and I now work as a technician in "Bavaria House" in Thiès, to the east of Senegal's capital Dakar.