Third report on relocation and resettlement

The Third Report on Relocation and Resettlement provides an updated state of play since the Second Report of 12 April 2016 and assesses the actions undertaken by all relevant stakeholders from 12 April until 13 May (the reporting period) to deliver on the recommendations made to accelerate the implementation of the relocation and resettlement schemes.

Since 12 April, 2,581 people have arrived in Greece. This represents a clear decrease (75% reduction compared to the period covered in the previous report), while in the mainland, the situation has remained largely unchanged. With the closure of the border between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, around 46,000 persons still remain in mainland Greece and, according to estimates by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 65% of those belong to one of the nationalities eligible for relocation. In Italy, 10,242 people have arrived since 12 April, showing a trend similar to the same period in 2015. An increased number of arrivals of Eritreans, including unaccompanied minors, has been reported in the past weeks.

Overall, progress on relocation since the Second Report has been unsatisfactory. The Commission had set a target to relocate at least 20,000 persons by mid-May in its First Report of 16 March 2016. The reality falls well short of this target. Only 355 additional persons have been relocated during the reporting period bringing the total number of persons relocated so far to 1,500 (909 from Greece and 591 from Italy). It is largely the same Member States as in the previous report that have continued to increase their relocation efforts, particularly in Greece whereas the number of relocation transfers in Italy remain low.

As regards resettlement, 6,321 people have been resettled so far of the agreed 22,504 under the July scheme mainly from Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. With the agreed actions set out in the EU-Turkey Statement only starting to be applied from 4 April, 177 persons have been resettled from Turkey to the EU under the 1:1 mechanism out of which 98 since the last report.

ESO: Background information: Relocation and Resettlement: EU Member States must act to sustain current management of flows http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-relocation-and-resettlement-eu-member-states-must-act-to-sustain-current-management-of-flows/

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