One in 10 Syrian refugees will need resettling, UN agency warns ahead of conference

29 March 2016 - Supporting refugees is a global responsibility that must be widely shared, the UN refugee agency stressed today ahead of a one-day high-level conference it is hosting in Geneva tomorrow, focused on refugees from Syria and the need for generating a substantial increase in resettlement and other answers for their plight.

"Refugees fleeing conflict and violence and arriving in Europe carry an important message: addressing their plight cannot only be the task of countries and communities that are close to wars. It is a global responsibility that must be widely shared until peace prevails again," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a press release.

"Giving at least some Syrian refugees an opportunity to move on to better lives, and relieving the burden on countries hosting millions of refugees are important gestures of solidarity. Let us not miss this opportunity," Mr. Grandi added.

The conference is one of several key events in 2016 focused on Syria's refugees. It follows February's London Conference on Syria, dealing with the financial dimensions of the humanitarian challenge posed by the more than 13.5 million people in need inside Syria and the 4.8 million refugees in the surrounding region, along with the needs of communities in host countries. Tomorrow's gathering is also in the run up to September's summit on refugees taking place at the UN General Assembly in New York.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) underlined that the focus of tomorrow's meeting is on the need for expanded, multi-year programmes of resettlement and other forms of humanitarian admission, including countries that until now have not been involved in such initiatives.