02/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - On 29 January, Spain agreed to set up an annual resettlement programme for refugees. Spain now joins a band of 12 other European countries - the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom - which have similar programmes. The European Commission has recently launched an initiative to establish a Joint EU Resettlement Programme. At present, 90% of the refugees resettled worldwide every year are taken in by the United States, Canada and Australia, according to the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). European countries only provide some 6% of the world's resettlement opportunities. Of the 66,000 refugees resettled in 2009, approximately 5,000 went to European countries. (B.C./transl.rt)