Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour to be asked to join you today. The ATCR is,
after all, the Resettlement Forum. This is, therefore, a humbling
experience for me, a novice on re-settlement; yet I am fully
committed to supporting re-settlement as a vital, indispensable
humanitarian activity - one that directly affects the lives of
countless persons year in, and year out. So, I want to thank our
traditional partner, the UNHCR, as well as all of you –
Governments and NGOs, and the US Chair for this privilege.

I wish to make three points.

A recurring theme throughout this dialogue has been a sense of
frustration amongst youth, of societies where the voices and needs
of youth are ignored, where hopes of meaningful employment,
development, and political participation are stifled. For example,
in one county with one of the world's fastest growing youth
populations, only one or two of every 30 graduates has a prospect
of employment. And those that do find employment could expect to be
paid 15 times as much if they migrated to the developed world.

I. Resettlement in Retrospect

This year's ATCR brings us together at a particularly poignant
moment in resettlement history - amidst the 60th anniversaries of
UNHCR, IOM, and the 1951 Convention. In this period, UNHCR and IOM
and their partners have helped to resettle at least 14 million
refugees an others - starting in the aftermath of World War II and
continuing until today's joint efforts in Libya.

Sometime this year, a nameless, faceless person will arrive in
the United States - the 3 millionth refugee whom UNHCR, IOM and
their partners have resettled since these two agencies were
established in 1951 in the aftermath of the Second World War.

Working together throughout six decades - with your support as
Governments and NGOs -- UNHCR and IOM have resettled, for
example:

• Hungarian refugees in Austria and Yugoslavia in the
  mid-1950s;
• Czechoslovakian refugees from Austria in the wake of the
  "Prague Spring" of 1968;
• South Asians Idi Amin expelled from Uganda in 1972;
• One million Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian refugees from the
  1970s to the early 1990s;
• Kosovar refugees at the turn of the Millennium in 1999;
• Several thousand of an endangered minority group in the DRC in
  this same period;
• and, currently, refugees and migrant workers in Libya.

I offer this selection of examples of successful resettlement -
to which you could add many more - simply to make the point that
supporting refugee resettlement is more than just another activity
for IOM - resettlement was the very raison d'etre for the
establishment of our Organization. Resettlement remains the bedrock
of IOM:

• Resettlement continues to account for about one-third of our
  activity and budget;
• Each year, e.g., IOM purchases more than $100 million of
  one-way air tickets to move desperate people from vulnerability to
  security. But IOM is more than a travel agency.
• Annually, IOM conducts 250,000 medical exams and assessments
  and hundreds of cultural orientation sessions. IOM officers are
  based at most of the world's major airports to assist arriving or
  transiting refugees. Resettlement is integral to IOM and a major
  part of our life and work.

Refugee resettlement is a noble humanitarian endeavor - one that
helps the most vulnerable - sometimes with life-saving protection,
but always with life-changing opportunities. IOM is proud to be a
partner with all of you in this common endeavor.

II. Resettlement in Current Perspective

A. Libya

In March, the High Commissioner suggested that we establish a
joint UNHCR/IOM Humanitarian Evacuation Cell (HEC) in response to
the migration crisis in Libya. Since then, we have together been
able to evacuate and repatriate 150,000 migrants, refugees and
others to some 46 countries. This was possible because neighboring
countries kept their borders open and you, as Governments,
generously provided $100 million and a similar amount through
in-kind assistance.

B. Anti-Migrant Sentiment

We know from Libya and other recent crises that a tide of
anti-migrant and anti-foreign sentiment currently sweeping large
parts of the world complicates resettlement today. Such sentiment
would deny current demographic, labor market and North-South trends
- push-pull factors that point clearly to the need for greater
openness to refugees and migrants. There would seem to be more
openness to refugees - given their circumstances - than to other
migrants; on the other hand, the anti-migrant hysteria in today's
world often makes the smooth and full integration of refugees more
difficult.

C. Resettlement States and Numbers Inadequate

The number of refugees continues to decline relative to IDPs and
other populations which are increasing, driven by natural
disasters, political turmoil and violence, and climate change and
environmental degradation. Yet, there remain at present too few
resettlement countries and numbers too limited to accommodate the
needs of refugees many if not most of whom have been waiting for
years, often in desolate conditions, to begin a new life.

In this regard, it is encouraging that, during the Swedish
Presidency, we learned that nearly half of the EU's 27 Member
States now declare themselves to be resettlement countries.
Similarly, another positive development is Japan's decision two
years ago to resettle into Japan Myanmar refugees from the refugee
camps of northern Thailand. Again, the Japanese initiative
importantly recognizes that Japan's can no longer rely solely on
temporary workers to meet their labour requirements.

This leads me already to a third and final point -- future
resettlement trends and challenges.

III. Resettlement: Future Trends and Challenges

A. Changing Resettlement Landscape

With more people on the move than at any other time in recorded
history, the composition of a number of nation-states is changing
before our very eyes, however many policies and politicians may
wish to deny this. A growing degree of multi-culturalism -
multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious - is a major feature
to our changing world. In this context, the resettlement landscape
is changing and has been changing dramatically in recent years.

B. Future Challenges

Several trends feature in this changing landscape. These
include:

Greater Diversity: a greater variety of refugees and refugee
locations. Besides large ongoing refugee resettlement operations
e.g. Iraqis in Syria, Jordan, and Egypt; Burmese in Thailand and
Malaysia; and Bhutanese in Nepal - there are dozens of smaller ones
and UNHCR is referring more cases and accepting cases from more
locations (42 in 1995, 80 today). Increased diversity of refugees
and refugee referrals from more locations to a greater number of
resettlement countries is posing still greater challenges to
resettlement operations. There is need for a corresponding increase
in operational resources in order to provide the processing,
medical, training and transport services that are involved between
a UNHCR referral and the arrival of refugees in their resettlement
country.

More Complex Health Assessments: Resettlement Countries
protocols based on modern diagnostic methods are lacking in most
refugee settings. Increasing focus on public health concern:
vaccinations, mental health, and health information.

Security: is a concern for Governments, staff, refugees and
resettlement countries, including: staff deployments to insecure
locations; possible referral and selection of refugees who might
have been involved in criminal or terrorist acts; threats to
refugees in camps or in urban settings; and the growing concern
that security-conscious Governments and agencies raise their
security requirements to such a level that processing time is
unacceptably lengthened.

Other Challenges: Today's changing and diverse resettlement
landscape may also require that new offices be opened, that new
staff be trained or new capacities built where local expertise or
facilities are inadequate. Other resettlement challenges likely to
be faced in the future include: (a) an inadequate number of
resettlement countries; (b) inadequate numbers for resettlement;
(c) refugee "earmarking" that limits those who are acceptable to a
particular country for resettlement.

C. A Special Challenge: Migrant Integration

In this regard, I would like to conclude my presentation with a
plea for a complete and successful integration of refugees.
Integration, if not well done, can transform resettlement into a
bad experience - one in which a dream becomes a nightmare; one in
which a good trip ends with a bad arrival. To realize the
investment in human capital that resettlement represents requires
strategic, well-planned integration of refugees from remote refugee
camps or urban centers to their new homes in countries of
resettlement.

Refugee integration is a long journey - one that begins well
before arrival and extends well after the trip is over. Our common
goal must be to find the most effective ways of helping refugees to
integrate and succeed in their new homes. Toward this objective, a
few observations:

Conclusion

None of these future challenges is new to IOM, however we
understand these challenges - and, working closely with you our
partners, IOM will continue to design and deliver quick,
economical, effective, totally accountable and low profile services
in support of refugee resettlement.