Burundian refugees during a naturalization ceremony in the United Republic of Tanzania. UNHCR / B. BANNON number of places made available by resettlement countries (some 80,000). The Office’s response to the gap between needs and places available is threefold: (i) encourage more countries to establish resettlement programmes or consider UNHCR submissions; (ii) work with established resettlement countries to increase their intake of UNHCR-identified refugees; and (iii) prioritize resettlement needs and submissions, in light of the limited places available. During 2009, a total of 112,400 refugees were admitted by 19 resettlement countries, including the United States of America (79,900), Canada (12,500), Australia (11,100), Germany (2,100), Sweden (1,900), and Norway (1,400). Overall, this was one quarter above the total for 2008 (88,800) and the highest level since 1995 (134,100). In 2009, UNHCR submitted more than 128,000 individual refugees for resettlement consideration by States, the highest number in the past 16 years and 6 per cent above the 2008 level (121,000). Group resettlement programmes in Ethiopia, Malaysia, Nepal and Thailand, as well as the continued streamlining of procedures for Iraqi refugees in the Middle East, contributed to these achievements. During the year, more than 84,000 individuals departed for resettlement with UNHCR assistance, 18,000 more than the year before. This is the highest number since the early 1990s. By nationality, the main beneficiaries of the UNHCR-facilitated resettlement programmes in 2009 were refugees from Myanmar (24,800), Iraq (23,000), Bhutan (17,500), Somalia (5,500), Eritrea (2,500), and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2,500). Some 94 UNHCR country offices were engaged in facilitating resettlement during 2009. The largest number of refugees who were resettled with UNHCR assistance departed from Nepal (17,500), Thailand (16,800), the Syrian Arab Republic (10,400), Malaysia (7,500) and Turkey (6,000). The five UNHCR offices in these countries together accounted for 7.5 out of every 10 resettlement departures assisted by the Office in 2009. Local integration The degree and nature of local integration are difficult to measure in quantitative terms. In those cases where refugees acquire citizenship through naturalization, statistical data is often very limited as the countries concerned generally do not distinguish between refugees and others who have been 12 2009 Global Trends