Principle 1: Return must be safe All persons have the right to leave any country, including their own. • All persons have the right to return to their country, or if they have no nationality or are stateless, to the country where they had the right of permanent residence at the time of entry into the receiving country, and to which return is possible. • Measures to restrict the departure of trafficked persons, including where such restrictions are in place to combat trafficking, must meet the tests of legality, necessity, proportionality and non-discrimination. • Requiring that victims remain in the destination country for the duration of criminal proceedings interferes with the right of return. Restrictions imposed by states in this respect must be in accordance with the law and not arbitrary or unreasonable. • The country of origin and country of destination are to permit victims of trafficking who wish to return to their country of origin to do so without undue or unreasonable delay. The return of trafficked persons should preferably be voluntary. • For a return to be voluntary, the person must be able to make a free and informed choice, including through the availability of complete, accurate and objective information on the situation in the country of origin. • Voluntary return implies the absence of coercive measures that would compel the person to return to the country of origin or to stay in the destination country. • In addition to being based on an informed choice, a voluntary return should not be subject to undue or unreasonable delays. The entire return process must at all times be safe and conducted with due regard for the rights and dignity of the person being returned and the status of legal proceedings. • Forced return is permissible only when it has been established that the proposed return is safe and that it does not interfere with the rights of the person being returned, including the right to be protected from the risk of being subjected to re-trafficking, persecution, torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and hence does not necessitate any additional protection measures. 18 Part 1: Guiding Principles of Return