Only 4.7 per cent of the 1.2 million people in need of a permanent new home were able to be resettled last year, according to new data from UNHCR.
The UN refugee agency figures showed that just 55,700 refugees were resettled. The data shows that the US took 17,113, Canada 7,713, the United Kingdom 5,702, France 5,109 and Sweden 4,861 while 15,194 went to 22 other countries.
The largest number of refugees who were resettled – 9,800 – had been living in Lebanon, followed by Turkey (9,000), Jordan (5,100) and Uganda (4,000). In terms of countries of origin, of the 81,310 refugees who were referred for resettlement, 28,200 came from Syria, 21,800 from the Democratic Republic of Congo, 4,300 from Eritrea and 4,000 from Afghanistan.
Sixty-eight per cent of those referrals were for survivors of violence and torture, those with legal and physical protection needs and for women and girls at risk. More than half were for children.
It’s estimated that in 2019, 1.4 million refugees living in 65 refugee hosting countries will need resettlement this year.
Shabia Mantoo, UNHCR spokesperson, said that resettlement remains a “life-saving tool to ensure the protection of those most at risk”.
“It is an instrument of protection, and a tangible mechanism for governments and communities across the world to share responsibility for responding to forced displacement crises. Resettlement and other complementary pathways for admission, is a key objective of the Global Compact on Refugees, to help reduce the impact of large refugee situations on host countries.”
Mantoo added that resettlement is only ever available to a fraction of the world’s refugees.
“Typically, less than one per cent of the 19.9 million refugees worldwide under UNHCR’s mandate are ever resettled.”
