Ninth report on relocation and resettlement

The Ninth Report on Relocation and Resettlement provides an updated state of play since the last report of 8 December 2016 and assesses the actions undertaken by all relevant stakeholders from 8 December 2016 until 7 February 2017 (the reporting period) to deliver on the commitments under the relocation and resettlement schemes.

Since 5 December, 3,873 people have arrived in Greece. The total number of migrants present in Greece remained stable compared to the previous reporting period and as of 7 February there are around 62,600 migrants, with around 15,000 on the islands and around 47,600 persons on mainland Greece. In Italy, 15,614 people have arrived since 5 December. Eritreans, the main nationality eligible for relocation in Italy, represented 3.6% of arrivals.

In the 8th Report, the Commission set specific monthly targets of at least 1,000 people relocated from Italy and at least 2,000 from Greece as of December 2016. The European Council, at its last meeting on 15 December 2016, endorsed the Joint Action Plan on the implementation of the EU-Turkey statement, which included the relocation targets for Greece, and reiterated its call to further intensify efforts to accelerate relocation, in particular for unaccompanied minors, and existing resettlement schemes. Despite these calls, the results are mixed.

During the reporting period 3,813 additional persons have been relocated, bringing the total number of persons relocated so far to 11,966 (8,766 from Greece and 3,200 from Italy). December, with 1,926 people relocated (764 from Italy and 1,162 from Greece), marked a new record for relocations both from Italy and Greece which allowed reaching the benchmark of more than 10,000 people relocated. January's results (551 relocations for Italy and 1,131 for Greece) confirmed the stabilisation of relocations from Greece at around 1,000 per month. However, whilst these numbers continue to represent a positive trend overall, they still fall short of the targets set by the Commission, and in the case of relocations from Greece, more widely endorsed by the European Council.

As regards resettlement, implementation of the July 2015 Conclusions to resettle 22,504 people is on track with 13,968 people in need of international protection resettled so far, which is more than half of the agreed number. Since 6 December 2016, 913 people have been resettled mainly from Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. Part of the resettlement under this European scheme serves also to implement the 1:1 mechanism set out in the EU-Turkey Statement. Since the starting date of 4 April 2016, 3,098 Syrians have been resettled from Turkey to the EU within that mechanism, including 487 since the previous report.

ESO: Background information: Ninth progress report on the EU's emergency relocation and resettlement schemes http://www.europeansources.info/record/ninth-progress-report-on-the-eus-emergency-relocation-and-resettlement-schemes/

---