FES BRIEFING DEBATING RESETTLEMENT A Guide through Political Claims about Resettlement and Complementary Pathways Natalie Welfens December 2021 A growing number of Member States of the European Union (EU) have committed themselves to directly admit refugees from first countries of asylum through resettlement and other related programmes. In such programmes, admission states offer safe access and temporary or permanent protection to a limited number of persons whom they consider to be in need of humanitarian protection. In contrast to asylum, resettle­ment and similar programmes are voluntary commitments by admission countries and not codified in international law. With such programmes come political claims and expectations about their necessity or advantages. Yet in practice, matters are often more complex than the political rhetoric suggests. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Ref­ugees(UNHCR), resettlement should target particularly vul­nerable refugees, e. g., people with legal, physical or medical needs; survivors of torture or violence; women, children and adolescents at risk; people with a lack of foreseeable alterna­tive solutions or no other means to reunite with their family. So-called“complementary pathways” – such as humanitarian admission, private sponsorship, or education pathways – al­low for more flexible admission criteria, which may also take other considerations than only humanitarian into account. Resettlement and complementary pathways are high on the political agenda in international, European, and national de­bates about refugee protection. In order to better navigate these debates, the following short analysis examines three major political claims about resettlement. With respect to these three claims, it also analyses the potential risks and benefits and provides recommendations. FIRST CLAIM: RESETTLEMENT AND OTHER ADMISSION PROGRAMMES PROVIDE SAFE AND LEGAL PATHWAYS FOR REFUGEES, THEREBY OFFERING AN ALTERNATIVE TO DANGEROUS AND IRREGULAR MIGRATION. Resettlement can be a life-saving instrument of protection, particularly for refugees who continue to be in a vulnerable situation in first countries of asylum and have no other op­tions to seek protection. However, resettlement can only offer a solution for a very small fraction of refugees in addition to regular asylum as, thus far, resettlement places are scarce: currently, less than one percent of the 82.4 million people who are forcibly displaced worldwide can be resettled. 1 Avail­able places cannot even accommodate all the particularly vul­nerable refugees in need. In 2019, around 1.4 million refu­gees were considered in need of resettlement, but only 63.726 were resettled. 2 Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting travel restrictions, UNHCR’s calculated resettlement need of approximately 1.44 million for both 2020 and 2021 respectively could hardly be addressed. For 2022, UNHCR es­timates a resettlement need of 1.47 million individuals, under­scoring the continuous need to increase admission capacities. 3 Importantly, scaling up refugee admission programmes is not only a question of political will but also of resources and logis­tics. The implementation of resettlement is a complex, trans­national process involving various state and non-state actors, and therefore, requires considerable resources. Recently, some admission countries and the EU have promot­ed refugee admission programmes not only as safe pathways but also as means to“fight irregular migration” and the “business model of smugglers”. 4 There is, however, no scien­1 UNHCR. 2021. Figures at a Glance. Available: https://www. unhcr.org/figures-at-a-glance.html[08 November 2021]. 2 UNHCR. 2020. More Resettlement Needed as Only 4.5 Per Cent of Global Resettlement Need Met in 2019. Available: https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2020/2/5e3a81c04/ resettlement-needed-only-45-cent-global-resettlement-needs­met-2019.html#:~:text=or%20regional%20site-,More%20 resettlement%20needed%20as%20only%204.5%20 per%20cent,resettlement%20needs%20met%20in%20 2019&text=Out%20of%201.4%20million%20refugees,UN%20 Refugee%20Agency%2C%20last%20year[08 November 2021]. 3 UNHCR. 2021. Projected Resettlement Needs 2022. Available: https:// www.unhcr.org/protection/resettlement/60d320a64/projected­global-resettlement-needs-2022-pdf.html[08 November 2022]. 4 See e. g.: European Commission. 2016. Managing the Refugee Crisis, EU-Turkey Statement. Available: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/ presscorner/detail/en/MEMO_16_3218[08 November 2021].