Resettlement, the transfer of refugees from the country where they have claimed asylum to a safe "third country," is the responsibility of international agencies, including Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

 

Noting a 17 percent projected overall increase in needs next year, the UN agency's Projected Global Resettlement Needs 2019 Report warns that access to this "key, durable solution" for those in need of international protection is extremely limited.

 

Refugees from 36 nationalities are in need of resettlement out of a total of 65 international operations, the UNHCR report showed.

 

For the third year in a row, refugees from Syria are set to have the highest resettlement requirements, at more than 600,000 people.

 

This represents a 26 percent increase on current needs.

 

Regionally, Africa is likely to remain the region with the highest projected resettlement needs next year, led by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

 

According to the UNHCR report, 163,000 people from the DRC will be in need of international resettlement in 2019, a 10-percent increase on 2018.

 

Despite the need to expand resettlement, the UNHCR report notes recent "fluctuations" in state resettlement quotas which have seen quotas grow from 2012 to 2016, only to see a "steep reversal" in 2017, when only 75,200 refugees were offered resettlement globally.

 

Because of this development, the UN refugee agency is preparing to focus on three major crises in 2019: countries hosting large numbers of refugees; central Mediterranean migration; and resettlement out of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt linked to the Syria conflict.