Communicating developmental reintegration: Returnee migrant workers and community development in Indonesia

This article examines how Indonesian returnee migrant workers contribute to community development in their areas of origin. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 11 returnee migrant workers in West Java, the findings identify three forms of contribution: strengthening family livelihoods, creating local economic opportunities, and participating in community life. Migration earnings support children’s education, productive asset ownership, and small businesses, while acquired skills, experiences, and social networks facilitate entrepreneurship and community participation. This article introduces developmental reintegration as a concept explaining how migration experiences are communicated and transformed into resources for families, local economies, and communities. These contributions depend on family support, market access, community trust, business mentoring, and responsive local policies. Rather than treating returnees solely as beneficiaries of reintegration programs, the study positions them as community actors capable of contributing to local social and economic change.