The article questions the role of public policies on migration and return in Colombia, during the current global economic crisis, arguing that the participation of key actors in the design and implementarion of public policies is essential to ensure effectiveness. The article presents a relational analysis of public policy (Ramirez, 1996) stating the need to integrate and decentralize responsibilities and resources and to give prominence to the actors involved. Methodologically the resach combines four case studies with the analysis of specific documents and 46 interviews. The article concludes that the observed shortcomings in public policy and return migration in Colombia are due, among other reasons, to the fact that migrants are not a priority in the political agenda, the government s institutional framework is weak and the decentralization of resources has been insufficient to achieve their ends.