In June 2020, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) released two annual reports showing the extent of global displacement in 2019 and the projected global refugee resettlement need in 2021. As Germany takes on the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the IRC has analysed both reports from the perspective of EU resettlement and in this briefing highlights ten key facts stakeholders should know. In 2019, the number of people forcibly displaced grew to 79.5 million individuals, with an average of 24,000 people forced to flee their homes every day.

Approximately 1% of humanity is now displaced, including 20.4 million are refugees who have driven from their homes and across borders. UNHCR estimates that almost 1.45 million are in need of resettlement, an increase by more than half since 2010. The EU has consistently increased resettlement places over the past ten years, yet a number of key gaps remain and it could still do more. Looking ahead to the release of the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, the briefing makes recommendations on how to ensure that EU resettlement is a success story built to last.

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