UNHCR, APRIL 2023 REFUGEES FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION Objectives and methodology This study was commissioned by the Secretariat of the ICGLR in collaboration with UNHCR in order to explore legal pathways to local integration and address risks of statelessness for refugees in protracted refugee situations. In 2009, the UNHCR Executive Committee adopted a resolution on protracted refugee situations, that defined a refugee situation as existing when refugees have been in exile “for five or more years after their initial displacement, without immediate prospects for implementation of durable solutions”.37 The particular focus of this study is on refugees resident in the country of asylum for at least 20 years (referred to in the study as “long-term refugees”), for whom voluntary return to the country of origin, or resettlement or complementary pathways to a third country are not available options, and who may also be at risk of statelessness. The objectives of the study were to assess the risks of statelessness among specific groups of long-term refugees, to develop recommendations for local integration pathways that mitigate risks of statelessness, and to inform the development of a comprehensive durable solutions strategy for forcibly displaced persons in the Great Lakes region, particularly among long-term refugees. A regional advisory group for the research project was established, chaired by the ICGLR Secretariat and including representatives of the office of the UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, the Special Rapporteur for Refugees, IDPs and Stateless Persons from the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Regional Durable Solutions Secretariat for the Great Lakes (ReDSSGL) 38 , as well as representatives of UNHCR Regional Bureaux for East and Horn of Africa and Great Lakes and for Southern Africa. The research consisted of a law and policy review in the countries of asylum and in relation to country of origin of main long-term refugee groups subject to this research, a survey of a representative and randomly chosen sample of long-term refugees in each country, focus groups with long-term refugees (as well as host communities in Uganda only), and key informant interviews in Uganda and Rwanda. National consultants in Uganda and Rwanda worked together with UNHCR staff in each country to conduct the research, and focus groups were conducted by UNHCR staff in DRC. The particular long-term refugee groups chosen for the regional research, in agreement with the regional advisory group, were: (i) Rwandan refugees who arrived in DRC before 1998, and their descendants born in DRC; (ii) Congolese refugees who arrived in Rwanda before 2001, and their descendants born in Rwanda; and (iii) Congolese refugees who arrived in Uganda before 2001 and their descendants born in Uganda; as well as refugees who arrived in Uganda before 2001 from what is now South Sudan, and their descendants. 39 A total of 1,431 adult refugees were surveyed across the three countries. Among those surveyed, 17 percent had been born in the country of asylum. Of those born in the country of origin, the vast majority had been in the country of asylum for more than 20 years. More details on methodology, including the profile of the refugees surveyed and the sampling strategy, are set out in Annex 1. 37 Conclusion on Protracted Refugee Situations No. 109 (LXI), UNHCR Executive Committee, 8 December 2009, https://www.unhcr.org/excom/exconc/4b332bca9/conclusion-protracted-refugee-situations.html. 38 ReDSSGL is a coordination and information hub for ten NGOs: ACTED, CARE International, Concern Worldwide, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Oxfam, Save the Children, and World Vision. See https://www.redssgreatlakes.org/. 39 It had been hoped to conduct research also among those Burundian refugees in Tanzania since 1972 and their descendants born in Tanzania who had been missed during previous naturalisation initiatives. However, it was not possible to obtain official approval to conduct the sample survey and other data collection with these refugees during the time frames available. 11