The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), decided to temporarily suspend resettlement departures for refugees, over health concerns due to international travel.
The suspension will begin the upcoming days as the agencies are trying to bring refugees who have already cleared all formalities, to their planned destinations.
Several member states have frozen resettlement arrivals given their public health situation, which has a significant impact on their capacity to receive newly resettled refugees.
After the EU27 leaders greenlighted on Tuesday the European Commission’s proposal for a 30-day travel ban from third-countries to the EU, the resettlement of refugees’ departures has been significantly disrupted.
UNHCR and IOM will continue their work in refugee-hosting countries to ensure that the processing of cases for resettlement remains unaffected.
IOM and UNHCR temporarily suspend resettlement departures for refugees
EPA/GEORGI LICOVSKI
A refugee woman and her children wait for the train for Serbia in the registration and transit camp, near Gevgelija, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 18 February 2016.
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