GENEVA:
The United Nations has warned that around 2.5 million refugees will require resettlement in 2026, as global pathways for relocation continue to shrink amid tightening policies in the United States and other countries.
The figure, released by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on Tuesday, reflects a slight decrease from this year’s estimate of 2.9 million refugees in need of resettlement. The decline is largely due to changing conditions in Syria, where improved stability has prompted some refugees to voluntarily return home.
“We’re seeing people withdraw from resettlement processes because they’re choosing to return and rebuild their lives,” UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo told reporters in Geneva.
For 2026, the largest groups expected to need resettlement include Afghans, Syrians, South Sudanese, Rohingya from Myanmar, and Congolese refugees. Many of them are currently hosted by countries such as Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Ethiopia, and Uganda, Mantoo said.
The announcement comes as the UNHCR grapples with major challenges to its resettlement efforts. “In 2025, resettlement quotas are projected to fall to their lowest level in 20 years — even lower than during the Covid-19 pandemic, when many programmes were suspended,” Mantoo noted.
This dramatic drop is partly linked to the United States, traditionally the world’s largest destination for resettled refugees. President Donald Trump, shortly after returning to office in January, suspended the US refugee resettlement programme, further reducing global options for those in need.
