Partnership in Resettlement

Syrian refugee Hanan Dacka (3rd from left), 12 years-old, confers with newly-made Brazilian friends (left to right) Anne Pinheiros de Souza, 12, Andressa Rabasco, 12, Julia Vanderlei, 12, and Maria Luiza de Sousa, 12, during classes at the Duque de Caxias Municipal School, in the Glicerio neighborhood of downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil, on February 25, 2016. Hanan arrived in Sao Paulo with her mother, Yusra Bakri, in early 2015 and was recognized as a refugee by the Brazilian government on September of that year. After only 4 days in a new classroom, she has started to make new friends, all of which already used to study alongside immigrants and refugees. Glicério, the school's neighborhood in the center of Sao Paulo, is the region to where the majority of immigrants and asylum seekers go to live as soon as they arrive in the city. Many children of those newly-arrived go to Duque de Caxias for elementary studies.

Resettlement is by definition a partnership activity. The resettlement of refugees relies on cooperation and evolving partnerships between UNHCR, states, NGOs, international organizations, civil society, community-based groups and other partners.

We identify refugees in need and submit their cases for resettlement. However, resettlement is dependent on states to provide permanent places of residence and support to integrate, and relies on NGOs and international organizations to play crucial roles throughout the whole process. Finally, refugees are partners in the process and with the appropriate integration measures in place and support from receiving communities, are empowered to contribute to their new countries.

No country is legally obliged to resettle refugees, and accepting refugees is a demonstration of generosity on the part of governments. The number of states that have established regular resettlement programmes and committed themselves to an annual quota has grown steadily. Some countries also accept refugees for resettlement on an ad hoc basis in response to specific appeals.

The Working Group on Resettlement (WGR) and the Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement (ATCR) meetings provide a dynamic forum for collaborative efforts between UNHCR, governments, NGOs, and international organizations to enhance the use of resettlement, identify and address challenges, and shape joint strategies and directions.

Collaboration between resettlement partners extends from identification and referral in the field, through processing, acceptance and travel to reception and integration in a third country. UNHCR continues to strengthen partnerships with NGOs through formal agreements and the deployment of NGO personnel to UNHCR operations.

To support and encourage strengthened cooperation, UNHCR and NGOs have developed the UNHCR-NGO Toolkit for Practical Cooperation on Resettlement. This also assists in developing consistency and predictability in the way UNHCR offices engage NGO partners in the field of resettlement.

Partnership in Resettlement

Resettlement: NGO Toolkit for Practical Cooperation

Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement (ATCR)

Refugee Resettlement Trends 2015