Overview
Between 1 January and 31 July 2017, 25,556 refugees were submitted by UNHCR for resettlement to 22 countries in Europe, only 11% less than the total for 2016 and already 130% more than the average rate of 11,100 submissions per year during the last decade.
Between 2006 and 2016, Europe’s proportion of resettlement submissions globally has increased from approximately 13% to more than 18%, and in 2017 is currently far higher (57%). This is primarily due to a significant decrease globally in new submissions for resettlement, most notably to the United States of America.
Resettlement cases were most commonly submitted based on legal and physical protection needs (46%), to protect survivors of torture and/or violence (26%), and to protect children and adolescents at risk (16%). For nationalities other than Syrians (16% of submissions overall), fewer cases were submitted due to legal and physical protection needs or to protect survivors of torture and/or violence (23% and 17% respectively), while more cases to protect women and girls at risk and the lack of foreseeable alternative durable solutions (24% and 12% respectively) were submitted than for cases relating to Syrians. Overall, just 1% of cases were under the emergency submission procedures, while 7% were urgent.
As of the end of July 2017, 4,798 resettlement cases (20,776 individuals in total) were processed by European countries. 92% of these were accepted, consistent with acceptance rates in previous years.
