Chapter 5
Figure 23 | Refugee returns | 2010 – 2019
Afghanistan
875,800
Syria
593,700
286,700
Côte d'Ivoire
Iraq
257,200
DRC
255,500
Somalia
242,600
South Sudan
241,700
Central African Rep.
227,700
Sudan
199,100
Burundi
189,800
Resettlement
Resettlement is a critical tool for the protection of
the most vulnerable refugees. It is also a tangible
mechanism for responsibility-sharing and a
demonstration of solidarity, allowing States to help
share each other’s burdens and reduce the impact
of large refugee populations on host countries.
Over the last decade, over one million refugees
were resettled by States with or without UNHCR’s
assistance. During this period, the number of
States providing resettlement places increased
from 24 in 2010 to a high of 35 in 2016 and 2017,
only to drop again to 29 in both 2018 and 2019.
Over the last decade, the number of refugees in
need of resettlement has increased dramatically.
UNHCR estimates than more than 1.4 million
refugees need to be resettled,60 an 80 per cent
increase since 2011 (see Figure 24). At the
end of this tumultuous decade, there was only
one resettlement spot available for every 20
vulnerable refugees in need. While the number
of refugees increased over time, the number of
resettlement places offered by States remained
well below 100,000 between 2011 and 2013. It
increased gradually to a peak of 163,000 UNHCR
resettlement submissions in 2016 to drop to
almost half of that at about 81,000 in both 2018
and 2019.
Resettlement is used to assist refugees in
countries that cannot provide them with
appropriate protection and support. Of all cases
submitted by UNHCR in 2019, 76 per cent were
for survivors of torture and/or violence, people
with legal and physical protection needs, and
particularly vulnerable women and girls. Just
over half (52%) of all resettlement submissions
concerned children.
Figure 24 | Gap between resettlement needs and UNHCR's annual submissions
1.50
(Millions)
1.25
1.00
0.75
0.50
0.25
0.00
2011
2012
2013
2014*
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
* 2014 excludes resettlement needs of Syrian refugees due to the fluid and rapidly evolving situation at the time of estimating global needs.
Resettlement needs
UNHCR resettlement submissions
60 https://www.unhcr.org/protection/resettlement/5d1384047/projected-global-resettlement-needs-2020.html
UNHCR > GLOBAL TRENDS 2019
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