UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, regrets today’s announcement that the Minister of Immigration and Integration has decided not to restart the Danish resettlement program.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, regrets today’s announcement that the Minister of Immigration and Integration has decided not to restart the Danish resettlement program.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has earlier made appeals to the Danish Government, including during his visit to Denmark in June this year, to consider resuming its long-standing place among the group of resettlement countries playing such a vital role for international refugee protection.
Resettlement is a gesture of global responsibility sharing. With a record high number of displaced people worldwide, 68.5 mio., resettlement has become an increasingly important solution. Not only does it provide a new chance in life for the most vulnerable refugees, it also sends a strong signal of support and solidarity with the countries hosting the majority of the world’s refugees, more than 8 out of 10.
UNHCR is also noting that the number of arrivals of asylum-seekers to Denmark has dropped significantly and is now at the lowest in almost a decade.
The Danish decision comes at a time, when the international community is recognizing the need to provide more complementary legal pathways, such as resettlement, as part of a developing a more comprehensive response to forced displacement. This was already agreed by all UN members in the New York Declaration in September 2016, and it is one of the key elements in the Global Compact on Refugees.
For more information, please contact:
In Denmark, Elisabeth Arnsdorf Haslund, [email protected], +45 21 42 55 64
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