Eastern Europe
Operational information on the Eastern Europe subregion is presented below. A summary of this can also be downloaded in PDF format. This subregion covers the following countries:
Subregion: Eastern Europe
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Latest update of camps and office locations 21 Nov 2016. By clicking on the icons on the map, additional information is displayed.
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Budgets and Expenditure in Subregion Eastern Europe
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2016
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{"categories":[2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018],"p1":[254.58595382,348.65309119,370.486506469,379.8935932,392.94178048,460.603140991],"p2":[3.29116795,3.22419003,2.750744475,2.21052703,2.14484887,2.339011292],"p3":[null,null,null,null,null,null],"p4":[13.0762607,21.4161172,46.849418884,41.14165239,34.55592907,29.213816923]}
{"categories":[2013,2014,2015,2016,2017,2018],"p1":[87.06124285,114.93678843,98.15642826,144.86997663,null,null],"p2":[1.55514895,1.28411391,1.14276108,1.01061833,null,null],"p3":[null,null,null,null,null,null],"p4":[5.19232765,13.35568633,27.97174796,22.41113036,null,null]}
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People of Concern - 2018 [projected]
[["Refugees",2934975],["Refugee-like situation",15050],["Asylum-seekers",285920],["IDPs",2280600],["Returned IDPs",200000],["Returned refugees",10],["Stateless",117085]]Loading ...
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Operational environment
Eastern Europe continues to host a significant number of people of concern to UNHCR, including refugees, IDPs and stateless persons. UNHCR works to ensure that all people of concern receive protection, live in safety and dignity together with host communities, and progressively attain lasting solutions.
Some countries in Eastern Europe have made significant advances in recent years in terms of aligning national legislation and procedures on asylum and statelessness issues with international standards. UNHCR continues to support the efforts to strengthen the state systems. In order to further build fair and impartial asylum procedures in Eastern Europe, UNHCR is engaged in the quality assurance initiative in Eastern Europe and the Southern Caucasus, focusing on enhancing the quality of refugee status determination procedures and related processes. UNHCR also continues to support measures to prevent and reduce statelessness, as well as accession to the two Statelessness Conventions for the countries that have not yet become the parties.
Yet, integration opportunities for refugees remain limited, in part due to the difficult economic situation, the lack of integration support mechanisms and resources, as well as incidents of xenophobia.
The conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Syrian Arab Republic and Ukraine continue to impact the subregion. UNHCR closely monitors the situation of internally displaced Ukrainians, as well as the more than 1.4 million Ukrainians seeking asylum or other forms of legal pathways in neighbouring countries and other countries in Europe.
Unresolved conflicts in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia do not contribute to the resolution of displacement challenges. While the needs of the displaced are gradually being met, many people of concern are still in need of durable solutions. The re-escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in April 2016 resulted in displacement of some 12,000 people, and has put contingency planning and preparedness as high priority for 2018.
In 2018, UNHCR’s work in Eastern Europe will focus on:
- Strengthening national asylum systems to ensure that people of concern to UNHCR have access to protection;
- Supporting access to durable solutions for refugees, primarily through local integration and, where appropriate, resettlement and voluntary repatriation;
- Supporting government actions for and accountabilities to all people of concern, including IDPs;
- Supporting peacebuilding initiatives in an effort to improve conditions for durable solutions and prevention of further displacement;
- Strengthening national legislation and procedures to prevent and reduce statelessness, and advocating accession to the two statelessness conventions;
- Assisting people of concern with specific needs, while working to facilitate access to public services and livelihoods for all people of concern;
- Work closely with relevant stake holders on contingency planning, as required
Response and implementation
Operations in the Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine are presented in separate country pages.
Armenia has been significantly impacted by the arrival of Syrian refugees in recent years, and some 14,000 Syrian nationals of Armenian origin remained in the country as at mid-2017. The most vulnerable Syrians will continue to benefit from support provided by UNHCR, in cooperation with the Government and NGOs, including in terms of accommodation and livelihoods.
As of mid-2017, some 1,200 refugees, 263 asylum-seekers, 3,600 stateless persons, and over 613,120 IDPs were present in Azerbaijan. UNHCR will continue to cooperate with the Government to strengthen implementation of international legal instruments; improve the national legislative framework; develop Government action plans aimed at achieving solutions for people of concern; improve the national asylum procedure; ensure access to basic services and the labour market for all people of concern; and advocate for a needs-based approach to enhance targeting of most vulnerable IDPs.
In Belarus, the effects of the situation in Ukraine will continue to be felt in 2018. As of mid-2017, the country hosted about 165,000 Ukrainians. Some 6,000 stateless persons and 2,000 refugees and asylum-seekers, mostly from Ukraine, Afghanistan and the Syrian Arab Republic were also present in Belarus. In 2018, UNHCR will support efforts to strengthen the asylum system and provide protection. Activities will include: monitoring the application of the 1951 Convention and national asylum legislation; provision of legal and technical assistance to the Government; building capacity of Government departments dealing with statelessness; ensuring full and unhindered access to territory and refugee status determination procedures; prevention of refoulement; and enhancing local integration capacity.
In Georgia, UNHCR will support efforts by relevant stakeholders to protect, integrate and improve living conditions for displaced populations. As of mid-2017, some 2,200 refugees and people in refugee-like situations, 344 asylum-seekers, 600 stateless persons, and 276,000 IDPs (including people in an IDP-like situation in Abkhazia) were present in Georgia. UNHCR will seek to ensure that people of concern are informed of their rights, improve access to State services, and expand ongoing socio-economic support based on a combination of self-reliance and cash-based interventions, as well as social cohesion projects. Legal aid and counselling will continue to be provided to both refugees and IDPs, and the Office will carry out monitoring of reception conditions and access to territory. UNHCR will seek to strengthen the quality of national asylum procedures through capacity development activities and advocate a needs-based approach to assisting IDPs.
2018 Budget for Eastern Europe | USD
| Operation | Pillar 1 Refugee programme |
Pillar 2 Stateless programme |
Pillar 3 Reintegration projects |
Pillar 4 IDP projects |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belarus | 1,595,197 | 43,000 | 0 | 0 | 1,638,197 |
| Regional Office in the South Caucasus | 11,149,900 | 505,777 | 0 | 4,972,920 | 16,628,598 |
| Russian Federation | 5,255,250 | 970,894 | 0 | 0 | 6,226,145 |
| Turkey | 436,573,729 | 2,790 | 0 | 0 | 436,576,519 |
| Ukraine | 6,029,065 | 816,550 | 0 | 24,240,896 | 31,086,511 |
| Total | 460,603,141 | 2,339,011 | 0 | 29,213,817 | 492,155,969 |
2018 Voluntary Contributions to Eastern Europe | USD
| Earmarking / Donor | Pillar 1 Refugee programme |
Total |
|---|---|---|
| Turkey | ||
| Canada | 1,886,792 | 1,886,792 |
| European Union | 61,945,902 | 61,945,902 |
| Turkey subtotal | 63,832,694 | 63,832,694 |
| Total | 63,832,694 | 63,832,694 |