United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

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United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

• The Role and the Rationale for a Resettlement
  Policy
• Bern, 21 January 2009

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Re-Visiting the Objectives of Resettlement

• To quickly save/rescue individuals/families with
  specific protection needs
• To provide a durable protection and solution
• As an element of burden/responsibility-sharing

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The Emerging Strategic Use of Resettlement I

• Definition
• E.g.
• To unlock another durable solution
• To address major protection problems such as
  preventing the military recruitment of refugees
  sexual gender-based violence

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The Emerging Strategic Use of Resettlement II

• To improve the asylum system in resettlement
  countries, in particular integration
• To reduce secondary movements
• To encourage behavioural changes (livelihoods,
  education, etc.)

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Recent positive developments I

• A significant increase in the number of
  resettlement submissions
• An increased number of refugees who have left
  for resettlement countries
• An increased number of women and girls-at-
  risk who have been resettled
• An increased number of countries participating
  in global resettlement activities

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Positive Developments II

• Resettlement as a tool to prevent refoulement,
  ETF agreement in Romania/Philippines
• A complement, a part of an asylum system
• Development of Regional RST Programmes (MPA, EU)

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Needs for in 2009

• 560.000 refugees in need of resettlement
• 192 compared to 2008 4 of the Worlds
  Refugee Population

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• These needs are not new
• All these needs will not be all
• addressed in 2009
• The quality of needs
• assessment still vary from
• country-to-country

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Reasons for increased needs

• Improved integration of
• resettlement in protection strategies
• Improved integration of
• resettlement in durable solutions
• strategies
• Improved use of registration records

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Parameters for prioritization

• Protection needs of the refugees
• Geographical diversity
• Individual diversity
• Serious efforts to use more strategically
  resettlement (including priority PRS)

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Main Challenges in Promoting Resettlement

• Integrity of processes
• Not de-railing other durable solutions
• Preparing the public opinion

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Other Challenges

• Debates on the potential for integration
• Managing the costs
• Measuring settlement outcomes

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• Thank you for your attention