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UNHCR launches resettlement of refugees in Chad to the United States

News Stories, 23 June 2009

A refugee family from Darfur and their makeshift shelter in eastern Chad. The United States will accept hundreds of the most vulnerable for resettlement.

N'DJAMENA, Chad, June 23 – The UN refugee agency has begun a pilot programme to resettle 1,800 refugees in Chad to the United States, with a first group of 11 from several countries flying out of N'Djamena at the weekend.

The group that left on Sunday included seven urban refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), three urban Sudanese refugees and one person from the Central African Republic (CAR) who had been living in Dosseye camp in southern Chad. They will fly to New York and later be resettled in the states of Kentucky, Texas, Iowa and Utah.

UNHCR plans to identify a total 1,800 cases for possible resettlement in the United States this year. Most of them are expected to be Sudanese refugees from Darfur living in the 12 refugee camps that UNHCR manages in eastern Chad. These camps house some 250,000 refugees from Darfur, some 60 percent of them women and children.

A further 70,000 refugees from the Central African Republic live in five camps in the south of the country. The next group earmarked for resettlement is expected to depart N'Djamena in early July and will mainly consist of Darfuri refugees. "There are serious protection cases," said Michele Manca di Nissa, UNHCR's deputy representative for protection in Chad.

The United States is the first country to agree to resettle vulnerable refugees from Chad. Some 20 countries around the world accept refugees referred to them for resettlement by UNHCR. This solution is only considered for refugees who cannot return home and are unable to remain in their host country. All those resettled do so voluntarily.

It is a meticulous process that usually takes 7-9 months per case. Potential resettlement cases are identified by UNHCR protection officers in the field and the refugees undergo several interviews.

UNHCR staff are trained in anti-fraud measures to avoid selecting refugees who are not eligible and refugees are counselled until the day of their departure on their rights and obligations in their new country.

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UNHCR country pages

Integration Handbook: Refugee Resettlement

A relevant handbook on the reception and integration of resettled refugees.

UNHCR-NGO Toolkit for Practical Cooperation on Resettlement

A repository for exchanging ideas on resettlement partnerships, June 2011.

Resettlement

An alternative for those who cannot go home, made possible by UNHCR and governments.

UNHCR Resettlement Handbook and Country Chapters

July 2011 edition of the UNHCR Resettlement Handbook.

Resettlement from Tunisia's Choucha Camp

Between February and October 2011, more than 1 million people crossed into Tunisia to escape conflict in Libya. Most were migrant workers who made their way home or were repatriated, but the arrivals included refugees and asylum-seekers who could not return home or live freely in Tunisia.

UNHCR has been trying to find solutions for these people, most of whom ended up in the Choucha Transit Camp near Tunisia's border with Libya. Resettlement remains the most viable solution for those registered as refugees at Choucha before a cut-off date of December 1, 2011.

As of late April, 14 countries had accepted 2,349 refugees for resettlement, 1,331 of whom have since left Tunisia. The rest are expected to leave Choucha later this year. Most have gone to Australia, Norway and the United States. But there are a more than 2,600 refugees and almost 140 asylum-seekers still in the camp. UNHCR continues to advocate with resettlement countries to find solutions for them.

Resettlement from Tunisia's Choucha Camp

Refuge on the Sixth Floor: Urban Refugees in Jordan

For most people, the iconic image of refugees is thousands of people living in row upon row of tents in a sprawling emergency camp in the countryside. But the reality today is that more than half of the world's refugees live in urban areas, where they face many challenges and where it is more difficult to provide them with protection and assistance.

That's the case in Jordan, where tens of thousands of Syrian refugees have bypassed camps near the border and sought shelter in towns and cities like Amman, the national capital. The UN refugee agency is providing cash support to some 11,000 Syrian refugee families in Jordan's urban areas, but a funding shortage is preventing UNHCR from providing any more.

In this photo set, photographer Brian Sokol, follows eight families living on the sixth floor of a nondescript building in Amman. All fled Syria in search of safety and some need medical care. The images were taken as winter was descending on the city. They show what it is like to face the cold and poverty, and they also depict the isolation of being a stranger in a strange land.

The identities of the refugees are masked at their request and their names have been changed. The longer the Syria crisis remains unresolved, the longer their ordeal - and that of more than 1 million other refugees in Jordan and other countries in the region.

Refuge on the Sixth Floor: Urban Refugees in Jordan

Assessing Refugee Needs in Brazil

UNHCR staff have been visiting and talking to urban refugees around Brazil to assess their protection needs of refugees and other people of concern. The refugee agency, working with local partners, carries out a three-week Participatory Assessment every year. UNHCR uses an age, gender and diversity approach during the exercise. This means also talking to minority and vulnerable groups, including women, older people, those living with disability and more. The findings allow UNHCR to develop an appropriate protection response. This year's exercise was conducted in five cities - São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília, Rio Grande de Sul and Manaus. Refugees taking part said the assessment allowed them to share views, problems and solutions with UNHCR and others. Various stakeholders, including government officials, aid workers and academics, also participated.