3. The Resettlement Submission Categories
© UNHCR/Diego Ibarra Sánchez
UNHCR resettlement activities are a means of providing international protection and durable solutions to refugees and are a tangible expression of international responsibility sharing.
The identification of resettlement needs is part of UNHCR’s ongoing protection and assistance activities. Refugees are identified as being in need of resettlement when they are at risk in the country of asylum or have specific protection needs or vulnerabilities for which resettlement is assessed as the most appropriate durable solution.
As part of UNHCR’s accountability to affected people, resettlement activities must be grounded in an equitable and consistent application of the seven submission categories. This promotes equality of access to resettlement based on protection needs and strengthens integrity and transparency in resettlement processing. Considerations that are not protection-related, such as integration potential and educational level, are not relevant to identification and selection processes for resettlement carried out by UNHCR.