IV. Durable solutions Millions of people around the world live in exile year after year with little hope of ever returning home. Some of them cannot go home because their countries face continuing conflict or, more often, because they remain fearful of persecution if they were to return. In cases where voluntary repatriation is not a viable option, finding a home in the country of asylum and integrating into the local community could offer a durable solution and the opportunity of starting a new life. Resettlement to a third country is another potential solution. Voluntary repatriation is the durable solution which has historically benefited the largest number of refugees. Resettlement is a key protection tool and a significant responsibilitysharing mechanism. Local integration is a complex and gradual process, comprising distinct but inter-related legal, economic and socio-cultural dimensions. It is, however, difficult to quantify in numerical terms given the large variety of forms in which local integration can occur. The analysis of data on local integration is therefore limited to integration through the naturalization of refugees by the host country. Distribution of resettlement arrivals and refugee returnees | 2002-2009 Fig 5 2% 5% 6% 7% 9% 9% 13% 31% 98% 95% 94% 93% 91% 91% 87% 69% 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Comparatively, resettlement benefits a small number of refugees; in 2009, only one per Refugee returnees Resettlement arrivals cent of the world’s refugees directly benefited from resettlement. During the past 10 years, some 810,000 refugees were resettled, compared to 9.6 million refugees who were able to repatriate. Thus, for every refugee who has been resettled since 2000, about 12 have repatriated. With the number of returning refugees decreasing in recent years, resettlement has become an increasingly applied solution, vital in resolving some protracted refugee situations, creating protection space, and opening up solutions that may have otherwise remained closed. Voluntary repatriation Based on consolidated reports from countries of asylum (departure) and origin (return), it is estimated that 251,500 refugees repatriated voluntarily during 2009, less than half (-58%) than in 2008 (604,000). Repatriation figures have Fig 6 Refugee returns | 1990-2009 continuously decreased since 2004 with the 2009 figures being the lowest since 1990 (139,000 returns). This is an indication that the 2.5 (Mln.) large-scale repatriation movements observed 2.0 in the past continue are in decline. Globally, an estimated 24.7 million refugees have returned 1.5 home over the past 20 years, most of them with UNHCR assistance. 1.0 0.5 0.0 1990 1995 10 2009 Global Trends 2000 2005 2009 The main countries of return in 2009 included Afghanistan (57,600), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (44,300), Iraq (38,000), Sudan (33,100), Burundi (32,400), and Rwanda