Global refugee resettlement needs have increased 50% since 2012 to over 1 million people due to growth in refugee populations. Syria has become the largest nationality for resettlement applications since 2013. Despite media focus on Syria, the top countries of origin for resettlement applications are Somalia, Myanmar, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who together make up over 62% of submissions. There has been a 90% increase in the number of refugees resettled over the past 10 years, with 616,500 resettled total, though 80,000 slots went unused indicating more refugees could be resettled.

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Hello Neighbor
Policy Review | June 14, 2017
Trends in Refugee Resettlement UNHCR 2015

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Welcome to the first policy review!
• It’s like The New York Times book review but for policy papers!
• These policy reviews are designed to give you a quick glance into
longer policy reports, white papers and research studies.
• This report shares most recently captured trend data from a 2015
report (released in 2016).
• The full report can be found at: http://www.unhcr.org/en-
us/news/agenda/2012/3/559e43ac9/unhcr-refugee-resettlement-
trends-2015.html
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What is the state of global resettlement?
• Global resettlement has seen an increase of over one million people
in need of resettlement since 2012. This is a 50% increase and 22%
increase in the last year alone.
• There is a direct correlation between global refugee population and
the global resettlement needs over the last five years.
• Resettlement needs are consistently around 8% of global refugee
population.
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What happens to someone who becomes a
refugee?
• What are the main options available for their long-term integration?
– Resettlement: Involves the selection and transfer of refugees the country they fled to.
This would be a country they are living for an undefined period of time, usually
bordering the country where they came from.
• They can apply through UNHCR to be resettled into a third State which has agreed to
admit them-as refugees- with permanent residence status.
• Less than 1% of the global refugee population resettles outside of this original country.
– Voluntary Repatriation: refugees return in safety and with dignity to their country of
origin and re-avail themselves of national protection.
– Local Integration: refugees legally, economically and socially integrate in the host
country, availing themselves of the protection of the host government.
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What are some big shifts in resettlement
applications?
• 2014 saw a shift in trends, as Syrian refugees, who did not appear in
the top five submission nationalities previously, became the largest
nationality group submitted for resettlement.
• Syrian refugees are the eighth largest refugee population submitted
for resettlement over the last ten year period, even though they only
started submitting in large numbers in 2013 and 2014.
– Both of the above stats highlight how much the need for Syrian
resettlement has grown.
• Bhutan did not feature in the top five countries of origin submitted for
the first time since 2006.
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What are the top trends in resettlement
acceptance?
• Streamlining of the refugee resettlement application created a
tenfold increase in applications.
– This was partially due to increased global conflict, but also due to
technology use.
• Would you be surprised to know that despite the media attention of
the Syrian crisis, the top countries of origin for people applying for
resettlement are from Somalia, Myanmar, Iraq and the DRC.
– These four countries combined are more than 62% of submissions over
the past 5 years
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Who is applying to be resettled?
• The overall growth in the number of submissions from 2005 to 2014
can be attributed to a number of factors:
– Increased submissions from priority and protracted refugee situations,
– the use of simplified Resettlement Registration Forms (RRFs)
• New technologies are being used, such as video conferencing in
Africa and MENA, where access to refugee populations has been a
challenge due to security issues. This means that more applicants
for resettlement can now be reached.
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What are the projected settlement needs?
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• There has been a steep
increase in the MENA
region (Middle East and
North Africa) in the last
five years.
• Asia has seen a marked
decrease.
• The Americas remain low,
despite an increase in
migration of
unaccompanied minors.

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Where do most resettled refugees come from?
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Where do most resettled refugees leave from?
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What are some of the reasons that refugees
need to flee?
In order to be resettled, every single refugee needs to fall into one of
these categories.
1. Lack of Foreseeable Alternative Durable Solutions
2. Women at Risk
3. Survivors of Violence and/or Torture
4. Legal and Physical Protection Needs
5. Medical Needs
6. Family Reunification
7. Children and Adolescents at Risk
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What are the current resettlement acceptance
rates?
• 90% increase in annual numbers of refugees departing to
resettlement States over the past 10 years
• 616,500 total over the same past 10 year period
• "The number of departures in 2014 (73,000) was almost twice the
number of departures in 2005 (38,000).”
• 80,000 open slots not utilized for resettlement, meaning that some
countries would be able to take more resettled refugees than they
currently are.
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Commentary
“Syria has become the defining humanitarian challenge of our times,
and it's important that the kind of offers of help that we've seen today
keep coming in. Providing refuge for vulnerable people feeling war is of
life-saving importance for the individuals affected, but it's also an
important show of solidarity with countries of the region that are hosting
millions of Syrians."
Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary General, (as quoted when he was
High Commissioner of UNHCR)
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Conclusion
• The global refugee crisis continues to grow, both in conflict, numbers
of refugees seeking protection and resettlement and in technological
change allowing more refugees to seek resettlement.
• What are you thoughts and takeaways?
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