Resettling externally displaced peoples

In Europe, the Dublin Agreement and Schengen Agreement as well as the Maastricht Treaty have given rise to "Fortress Europe". This hardened attitude in Europe as well as in other region's of the World has effectively resulted in minimal resettlement of displaced peoples (leaving repatriation as the only realistic option).

This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities.

The change in attitude in many countries of traditional resettlement has meant that only one in 500 refugees (or 37,000) around the World has been resettled in 1993, compared to more than 250,000 refugees per annum in the late 1970s. Though the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) continues to insist on resettlement, most countries have limited their entry quotas to those with special needs.

In 1993, the Sierra Leone Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies commenced a resettlement and rehabilitation programme for displaced people.

In 1993, the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) various activities in the former Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia included among others, processing emigrants for resettlement abroad, and placement in countries of temporary protection.