Annual Tripartite Consultations on resettlement in Geneva this week

UNHCR is holding a series of meetings in Geneva this week on refugee resettlement issues in a concerted effort to improve the efficiency and predictability of the resettlement process. The Annual Tripartite Consultations (ATC), which start today and continue on Wednesday, will cover a number of issues, including global resettlement policy and UNHCR's projected resettlement needs for 2005.

About 100 participants are expected to attend, including representatives of all the main countries which take an annual quota of refugees for resettlement, the European Commission, the main NGOs involved in resettlement activities, and the International Organization for Migration. The meeting will also focus on expanding the body of countries which agree to take resettlement cases. Only 16 countries are currently committed to taking a regular annual quota.

In a separate meeting on Thursday, UNHCR and the resettlement countries will meet with the aim of collating well ahead of time clear indications of 2005 resettlement quotas. This is the first time this has happened. If the exercise proves successful, it should help simplify and streamline what has traditionally been an extremely complex planning process. The ATC's have been taking place annually since the mid 1990s so all the main participants can take stock of a wide range of issues linked to resettlement.