© UNHCR/L.Taylor

The UN refugee agency is calling for more resettlement places for the most vulnerable of the 10.5 million refugees under its mandate. Most refugees either eventually return to their home countries or are allowed to settle in countries of first asylum. But for some, resettlement in a third country offers the only possible solution. 

"If states do not come forward with more places, almost 100,000 vulnerable refugees in need of resettlement will remain without any solution this year," Wei-Meng Lim-Kabaa, head of UNHCR's resettlement service, said at the opening of tripartite consultations between UNHCR, governments and the non-governmental sector which took place in Geneva at the end of June.

UNHCR is calling on states to make available resettlement places for these refugees outside their regular quota. UNHCR is also asking states to speed up their decision-taking procedures and their departure clearances to bring these refugees to safety as quickly as possible.

Currently, 80,000 resettlement places are available each year. It is estimated that 780,000 refugees will be in need of resettlement as a solution over the next three to five years, of whom 172,000 will be prioritized for next year.

In 2009, almost 85,000 refugees were resettled, but in 2010 the figure dropped to about 73,000. UNHCR is concerned that in 2011 the number of refugees departing for resettlement will be significantly fewer than the 80,000 places available.

UNHCR is already observing a significant drop in departures of those refugees accepted for resettlement. This is due to stringent security checks and various challenges that resettlement countries face in managing their resettlement programmes. 

The widening gap between global resettlement needs and available places, as well as the drop in actual departures, was the meeting in Geneva. The three-day consultation was co-chaired by the United States Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, the Refugee Council USA, and UNHCR.

The consultations also focused on the strategic use of resettlement to provide solutions for refugees otherwise not eligible for resettlement, in a number of priority situations in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. The agenda also included the promotion of measures to improve the reception and integration of refugees once they reach their new destination. 

The consultations provided a forum for UNHCR to draw attention to the acute resettlement challenges for refugees who have fled violence and serious human rights abuses in Libya and are now stranded at the borders of Tunisia and Egypt. In the wake of the mass outflows, UNHCR launched a Global Resettlement Solidarity Initiative and mounted an emergency resettlement operation, which is unique in its volume and complexity and poses considerable challenges for all partners concerned.