Excerpt of the UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner's remarks at the CCME conference "Towards the common EU resettlement scheme—The road ahead":

“Resettlement matters”! This was the simply expressed, closing sentiment of the NGO Annual Tripartite Consultations on Resettlement co-chair which I can only endorse. It matters to the refugees to whom it offers a new future; it matters to the communities where they will build that future; it matters to the former host countries as a demonstrable gesture of burden-sharing; it matters to refugee protection more broadly for the protection space it helps to open up. UNHCR is fully committed to developing the potential of resettlement as a protection mechanism, as a strategic asylum tool and as a durable solution which enriches communities and strengthens cultural diversity and respect for human dignity. I wish to thank the organisers of this meeting for providing us with this timely opportunity to reflect together on Europe’s vision for resettlement and its contribution to achieving these objectives.

My presentation will focus on the challenges facing UNHCR in developing the potential of resettlement and what European countries and our NGO and community partners can best do to assist. We are interested to hear your reactions and how you would recommend we collectively move on the various issues.

To read the full statement, please see below:

Erika Feller on resettlement (98.33 KB)