Methodological note As part of the project “Implementation of a forced return monitoring system”, funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) 2014/2020, the National Guarantor for the rights of persons detained or deprived of liberty worked in collaboration with Fondazione ISMU 1 for the creation of a Scientific-Methodological Support Service for the monitoring of forced return operations. The objectives of the service were:  To systematize the information collected during monitored forced return operations;  To systematize and standardize the monitoring system through the creation and revision of specific tools;  To hone the sampling method employed for the selection of the return operations to be monitored;  To define a set of indicators useful for the preparation of Reports and the Annual Report to Parliament;  To increase the competences of the national monitoring system through comparison with the practices implemented at European level. To complement the systematization of the information, of the tools and procedures that the National Guarantor adopts in order to carry out the task of monitoring returns, an analysis of the procedures implemented by other Member States was carried out in order to identify best practices transferable to the Italian context. The research was carried out in two phases. First of all, the “state of play” of the monitoring systems implemented by other Member States was reviewed and mapped. The mapping of current practices aimed to define a list, as complete and up-to-date as possible, able to provide a descriptive account of the situation at European level. The analysis aimed to provide a review of the reference legislation and of the practices adopted as well as a description of the phenomenon of forced returns, so as to obtain the most comprehensive picture possible. Mapping on the one hand involved desk research activity, starting from the available documentation and, in particular, from the information made available by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)2 and by Frontex. 3 Secondly, a questionnaire was defined which was submitted to all the monitoring bodies and the results of which are reported in the third part of this Report. The aim of the questionnaire was to investigate two aspects in depth: first, to collect information on the methods of implementing forced returns by the reference country (block 1), and second, to investigate strategies and monitoring activities of the competent bodies (block 2). The questionnaire was therefore structured in two blocks and it examined: 1www.ismu.org. 2 Forced return monitoring system – 2019 update https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2019/forced returnmonitoring-systems-2019-update . 3 Factsheet for forced return monitor, European Border and Coast Guard Agency – FRONTEX.