A New Challenge

Despite the best efforts of countries of asylum to help people who have fled their homes and country, the trauma and suffering of refugees doesn't simply disappear. They are rarely able to simply pick up everyday activities in a new setting and live and work as they did before. Sometimes the threats that caused refugees to leave their homes in the first place are present also in the country of refuge. There may be a risk that refugees be forced to repatriate before they're willing to, or new sources of danger for individuals with special needs or parts of the refugee community.

When individual refugees are at risk, or when there are other reasons to help them leave the region, UNHCR attempts to resettle them in safe third countries. With voluntary repatriation and local integration, resettlement is one of the three long-term solutions UNHCR works for on behalf of refugees.

Through resettlement, refugees gain legal protection - residency and often eventually citizenship - from governments who agree, on a case-by-case basis, to open up their communities to new members. The task of receiving and settling refugees requires that UNHCR works closely with central and local authorities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and religious and social welfare groups. It is often through the efforts of NGOs that the public in resettlement countries is made aware of the plight of needy refugees.

UNHCR is constantly working to improve its ability to identify refugees who need to be resettled through intensive training of staff and partners. NGOs operating in coordination with UNHCR can provide essential support in the identification and the referral of potential resettlement cases. The newly revised Resettlement Handbook sets clear standards for referring individuals to prospective countries. States may accept or reject cases referred by UNHCR, and may also decide to admit refugees under resettlement programmes who have not been referred by UNHCR. Once a refugee arrives in a resettlement country, it is that government which takes him or her in hand.

Following World War II, hundreds of thousands of Hungarian, Chilean, Ugandan, Vietnamese and Bosnian refugees have been resettled in a succession of large operations. Today, eleven resettlement countries have annual resettlement programmes or quotas: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the UK and the United States of America. In addition to these countries, other countries such as Benin, Burkina Faso, Brazil, Chile, Iceland have started to implement resettlement programmes in co-operation with UNHCR. Other countries accept cases on an ad hoc basis. UNHCR has encouraged more governments to extend resettlement opportunities to refugees in need.

While the criteria which States use to determine eligibility for resettlement may vary, like the numbers of refugees they accept, all programmes recognize the range of compelling circumstances, including protection cases, family reunification, refugees with special needs such as women at-risk, handicapped refugees or serious medical cases.

Compared with large resettlement operations in the recent past, for example of Vietnamese and Bosnian refugees, UNHCR resettlement programmes are implemented in a larger number of countries where refugees reside. One third of the referrals in 1996 were African refugees, mostly Somalis, Ethiopians, Eritreans and Sudanese; another third of the resettled refugees in 1996 were from the Middle East, mostly Iraqis and Iranians. In the same year, one quarter of the refugees resettled with UNHCR assistance were from Former Yugoslavia, and twelve percent were from South East Asia. The diversification of resettlement activities has intensified in the last years. For example, in 2003, refugees of well over twenty nationalities in Africa have been resettled from some 30 countries on the continent and numerous other locations in the world. However, in 2003, African refugees continued to remain the largest caseload in UNHCR assisted resettlement programmes (57% of the total number of resettled refugees), followed by the refugees from the Middle East (35%) and Asia/Oceania (4%).

The terrorist attacks of 2001 and the following conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq have had a serious and world wide impact on resettlement activities. The new security environment and the restrictions imposed on the general movement of people have negatively impacted the resettlement of refugees. For instance, from the 33,098 UNHCR assisted resettlement departures in 2001, only 21,037 refugees departed in 2002, a reduction of 36% compared to the previous year. However, in 2003, the trend has moved upwards again, thanks to the renewed efforts by UNHCR and its partners to revitalize resettlement as a durable solution. A total of 28,255 refugees departed for resettlement in 2003, which represents an increase of 34 % compared to the 2002's figures.

UNHCR promotes resettlement within the context of broader policies which strive to address the causes of flight at the outset, and strengthen the principal of asylum. The use of resettlement in a strategic manner has been recently reinforced by UNHCR and its partners. This includes using resettlement in order to achieve benefits for other refugees beyond those being resettled.

The ability to resettle refugees in need remains an effective way of offering refugees both protection and a lasting solution to their dilemma.