UNHCR’s Representation for the Nordic and Baltic Countries covers Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. UNHCR has a presence in the region since 1985.
While the main UNHCR office is located in Stockholm there are three UNHCR liaison offices in the region – in Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius.
Across the world, UNHCR delivers life-saving aid, ensures the protection and safeguard the rights of our persons of concern, and strives to find durable solutions. Read more about UNHCR’s global work on our global website (in English).
In the Nordic and Baltic region, UNHCR maintains an active dialogue with governments, local authorities, civil society organizations and media with a view to safeguarding the rights and well-being of persons who have been forced to flee.
Together with partners and communities, we work to ensure that everybody has the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another country. We also strive to secure lasting solutions to their plight.
We support and cooperate with governments and non-governmental organizations in their engagement in refugee situations around the world, where we work together to protect, assist, and find solutions for forcibly displaced populations.
UNHCR does not have an operational role in the Nordic and Baltic region in terms of assisting asylum-seekers and refugees directly.
Primary tasks for UNHCR in the Nordic and Baltic countries include:
- Supporting governments in their implementation of European and international legal instruments related to asylum, protection, and statelessness; this encompasses support to national asylum authorities to develop fair, efficient, and high-quality asylum procedures, including child-friendly procedures. Our work also includes targeted and evidence-based advocacy, provision of law comments and legal advice, as well as training of professionals and officials.
- Monitoring that asylum-seekers have access to the countries in the region, can apply for protection, and that they enjoy access to rights, which take into consideration age, gender, and diversity.
- Advising governments, partners, and other stakeholders on ways in which refugees can be helped to integrate into the countries in the region – and on how countries can strengthen safe, complimentary pathways for refugees to access protection. This work includes promoting key networks and the sharing of good practices.
- Advocating for governments to find solutions to challenges faced by stateless persons within their borders and to address existing gaps that could help reduce and ultimately eliminate statelessness.
- Raising awareness about the global refugee situation and the plight of the millions of people that have been forced to flee – and strengthening awareness of and understanding of the refugee cause. This includes engaging with media and the public, for example by providing timely input and participating in public events where refugee matters are discussed.
- Mobilizing financial and other support for the work of UNHCR worldwide, from a range of actors, among them governments, foundations, companies and private citizens.