Resettlement: From the DRC to Malawi to Denmark

Tis four-year-old refugee boy and his familiy are leaving Dzaleka refugee camp, Malawi, for a new life in Denmark. / UNHCR / J. Redden / 13 March 2007

Definition: Resettlement involves the selection and transfer of refugees from a State in which they have sought protection to a third State which has agreed to admit them – as refugees - with permanent residence status. The status provided should ensure protection against refoulement and provide a resettled refugee and his/her family or dependants with access to civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights similar to those enjoyed by nationals. It should also carry with it the opportunity to eventually become a naturalized citizen of the resettlement country.

Resettlement serves three equally important functions. First, it is a tool to provide international protection and meet the special needs of individual refugees whose life, liberty, safety, health or other fundamental rights are at risk in the country where they have sought refuge. Second, it is a durable solution for larger numbers or groups of refugees, alongside the other durable solutions of voluntary repatriation and local integration. Third, it can be a tangible expression of international solidarity and a responsibility sharing mechanism, allowing States to help share each other’s burdens, and reduce problems impacting the country of first asylum.

(Quoted from Strengthening and Expanding Resettlement Today: Challenges and Opportunities, Global Consultations on International Protection, EC/GC/02/7 of 25 April 2002, (4th Meeting).)