Joint Statement: Adoption of the Union Resettlement Framework

A chance for the EU to bring more people to safety and champion global responsibility sharing

The Union Resettlement Framework (URF), which has been adopted on 10th of April, has the potential to bring about a more coordinated, predictable and protection-centred approach to EU resettlement, especially for refugees in vulnerable situations. Safe routes for refugees to reach Europe are not an optional 'nice to have' - they must be an intrinsic part of a well-functioning asylum system, alongside and in addition to the right to claim territorial asylum.

Yet, while EU leaders often speak of the importance of increasing safe routes to protection, many resettlement programmes have been scaled down, suspended, or indefinitely put on pause in recent years. Indeed, only 14 EU Member States have pledged to participate in resettlement programmes in 2024 and 2025 - which is a decrease compared to the 17 who had made such commitments for 2023.

We encourage the EU and Member States to seize the following three priority actions in order to make URF an effective tool for scaling up resettlement:

1) Increase the capacity of national resettlement programmes and ensure the participation of more EU states in resettlement efforts through the full operationalisation of the URF - leading to increased pledges, more robust programmes, and better implementation

2) Ensure fit-for-purpose monitoring and regular reporting on resettlement commitments

3) Strengthen resettlement programmes by involving displaced people, civil society, and humanitarian actors at every step of the process