The European Commission has been calling for the resettlement of refugees to become an integral part of EU asylum policy. Hence, in September 2009, the European Commission proposed to establish a Joint EU Resettlement Programme, which would co-ordinate the resettlement of refugees from third countries to the EU in order to reduce the differences among EU Member States regarding protection standards.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has an international mandate to provide refugee assistance and to determine if a case is eligible for resettlement. Resettlement is seen as a last resort when the refugee cannot return to his home country and there is no prospect of local integration in the country of first asylum. The UNHCR refers resettlement cases to resettlement countries, which will decide to accept or reject a case. The resettlement country decides on the numbers of refugees it wants to resettle as well as on their nationalities and the countries from which the resettlement takes place.
The majority of the EU Member States resettle refugees on an ad-hoc basis. Presently, ten EU Member States, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, France, Romania and the Czech Republic carry out resettlement of refugees from third countries on an annual basis. They have, therefore, resettlement programmes under which, on a request from UNHCR, refugees are transferred from a first country of asylum to their country where they are allowed to reside. The planning of resettlement activities is mainly done through bilateral contacts between resettlement countries and the UNHCR. Each EU Member State has its own resettlement criteria. Moreover, there are differences, among EU Member States with respect to the status granted to resettled refugees.
The UK has the Gateway Protection Programme, which is operated by the UK Border Agency in partnership with the UNHCR. Under this programme up to 750 refugees may settle in the UK each year. The UK Border Agency assesses the refugees’ need for resettlement as well as security risks and may refuse an application if it believes that “resettlement in the United Kingdom would not be for the public good.”
Hence, Member States set resettlement priorities nationally without prior consultation and coordination at the EU level. There are, therefore, no harmonized resettlement criteria. However, the Commission wants more coordination of resettlement activities at the EU level. Thus, it has proposed the establishment of a joint EU resettlement programme aiming at involving more Member States in resettlement activities and, in this way, demonstrating greater solidarity to third countries in receiving refugees. The Commission believes that the creation of such mechanism would raise the EU’s credibility in the international stage.
Resettlement programmes are extremely important for humanitarian reasons, to protect refugees whose life, liberty, safety, health are at risk in their country of refuge. However, Member States should remain responsible for the resettlement of refugees to their country. The Member States participation on the joint EU Resettlement Programme would be voluntary. However, this is a misleading statement, as Timothy Kirkhope pointed out “(…) a collective approach such as the one the commission is proposing could undermine our ability to decide who we grant asylum to and who we allow into our country." Moreover, it is important to note that Brussels would coordinate, through the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), the resettlement activities of the participating Member States, such as joint selection missions, joint pre-departure activities, joint travel and visa arrangements for resettled refugees and joint activities with respect to reception and integration of resettled refugees. The Office will assist Member States in identifying refugees to be resettled and the reception they will be given.
The existing ad hoc Resettlement Expert Group, under the Commission proposal, would become a wider body where all Member States, resettlement and non-resettlement countries, the European Commission, will participate, along with other stakeholders, including the UNHCR, IOM, and ECRE. It would identify the EU common annual resettlement priorities on the basis of the UNHCR indicative forecast of resettlement needs, provided each year. Then, the Commission would draft its proposal, specifying the resettlement priorities for the coming year. Such priorities will concern specific geographic regions and nationalities as well as specific categories of refugees to be resettled. Hence, the EU-wide common resettlement priorities would be established annually by means of a Commission decision, through the comitology procedure, consequently, Member States would have reduced influence in deciding resettlement priorities themselves.
The European Refugee Fund provides funding for refugee integration projects. The European Refugee Fund (ERF III), for the period 2008 to 2013, has an overall budget of €628 million of which €62 million has been allocated for Community actions and €566 million, is distributed among the Member States. Each Member State receives a fixed annual payment and the remainder of the available annual resources is allocated on the basis of the number of refugees and asylum applications they receive. The ERF III provides financial assistance to Member States, which carry out resettlement of refugees from third countries, if they fulfil certain criteria.
The Commission also proposed a decision amending the Decision establishing the European Refugee Fund for the period 2008 to 2013 in the light of the establishment of a Joint EU Resettlement Programme. Under the draft proposal, following the adoption of the Commission Decision on common EU resettlement priorities, Member States would be required to provide the Commission with an estimate of the number of refugees whom they will resettle during the following year, according to the EU common annual priorities. Then, they would receive an additional €4,000 for each effectively resettled refugee during that year.
The Commission was aware that its proposal would have an impact on the quantitative allocations, which are provided by the ERF. If there was an increase in the total of resettlement places within the EU and if Member States resettle refugees on the basis of the EU common priorities, the allocation under the abovementioned criteria would increase substantially. Nevertheless, the Commission believed that it was not necessary to establish a "ceiling" with respect to this allocation of ERF funds.
On 8 March, the Justice and Home Affairs Council adopted the Joint EU Resettlement Scheme. It adopted a Decision amending Decision No 573/2007/EC establishing the European Refugee Fund for the period 2008 to 2013. Following several trilogues, the Council's position at first reading reflects a compromise reached during the negotiation between the European Parliament and the European Commission. Hence, the European Parliament is expected to endorse the proposals at the end of March 2012.
The Council and the European Parliament agreed to amend the Commission's proposal by listing the resettlement priorities in the present Decision and not, as initially proposed by the Commission, through the comitology procedure on an annual basis. According to the Council “Since the current European Refugee Fund covers the period until the end of 2013, there is effectively only one programming year left under the current Fund” consequently it is “justified to list in this Decision the priorities for that year only and set out a mechanism for the establishment of the common EU resettlement priorities in the instrument creating a new fund for the period 2014-2020.” Moreover, the Council noted, “Since no mechanism for the establishment of EU resettlement priorities on an annual basis is foreseen in the Council's position, all the provisions in the Commission's proposal related to annual programming cease to be relevant.”
The above-mentioned Decision establishes common EU resettlement priorities for 2013 as well as new rules concerning the European Refugee Fund for the resettlement of refugees from third countries. The list of specific common EU priorities for 2013, and for whom EU funding is available, includes Congolese refugees in the Great Lakes Region, refugees from Iraq in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Afghan refugees in Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, Somali refugees in Ethiopia, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Malaysia and Thailand as well as Eritrean refugees in Eastern Sudan. Member States have been asked to communicate to the European Commission, by 1 May 2012, an estimate of the number of persons they plan to resettle during 2013 according to these priorities.
Hence, under the revised European Refugee Fund, Member States will be entitled to receive a lump sum of EUR 4000 for each person resettled according to the agreed priorities, persons from a country or region designated for the implementation of a Regional, persons belonging to a vulnerable groups, persons having serious medical needs, persons in need of emergency resettlement or urgent resettlement for legal or physical protection needs and persons indicated on the list of specific common EU priorities for 2013. But, member states that apply for financial support from the fund for the first time will be entitled to receive a lump sum of EUR 6000 whereas member states that have already received financial support once will receive EUR 5000 per resettled person.
For the time being the Member States participation on the joint resettlement scheme is voluntary. Nevertheless, it will put pressure on Member States to make annually available a national quota for resettlement. They agreed to run this resettlement scheme in 2013, however the Commission has already made clear that it wants a Joint EU Resettlement Programme to become an integral part of EU asylum policy. In her statement on the Council adoption of a common position on the Joint EU resettlement programme, the European Commissioner Cecilia Malmström stressed, “A stronger engagement in resettlement also forms an integral part of the EU common asylum policy.” Moreover, she said, “For the period 2014-2020, the Commission proposes to set up a new mechanism which will be more flexible and attractive for the Member States and which will allow for more strategic use of resettlement. This should lead to a substantial increase in resettlement to the EU.”
The first step has now been taken towards full harmonization of resettlement criteria that the different Member States use and a common status of refugees after arrival. Therefore, do not be surprised, in the near future, when Brussels would be in charge of allocating refuges between Member States.
