On Tuesday 11 November, the Commission proposed, under the Union Resettlement and Humanitarian Admission Plan 2026-2027, that Member States commit themselves - voluntarily - to receiving 15,230 refugees currently sheltered in third countries.
This plan, based on voluntary action by Member States, offers “a framework to admit persons in need of protection through safe and legal pathways”, explains the Commission in a press release.
It defines the resettlement and humanitarian admissions planned over the next two years, focusing on the main migratory routes.
The plan takes account of the UNHCR’s Projected Global Resettlement Needs (PGRN), explains the draft EU Council implementing decision. “The UNHCR estimates that, in 2026, 2.5 million refugees will be in need of resettlement, a slight decrease from 2.9 million in 2025. Conversely, the UNHCR also stresses a significant drop in the anticipated commitments for 2025. (...) It estimates that Afghans at risk and Syrian refugees will be the main populations in need of resettlement over the coming year, followed by South Sudanese, Sudanese, Rohingya and Congolese refugees.”
In terms of host countries, the UNHCR projects that the greatest resettlement needs (to the EU and the rest of the world) will be in Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Lebanon, Chad, Bangladesh, Egypt and Thailand.
Since 2015, EU-sponsored resettlement programmes have enabled more than 135,000 people to find refuge in the EU, the statement added.
For further information: https://aeur.eu/f/jdo (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)