UNHCR had a resettlement quota of 6,023 to the United States of America (3,973), Norway (900), Canada (700), Sweden (450). The submission to all the countries exceeded, except for the United States of America. Out of the resettlement quota, a total of 4,443 submissions were made. These included 1,895 submissions to the United States of America, 1,244 submissions to Norway, 755 submissions to Canada and 489 to Sweden. UNHCR also succeeded to submit refugees to countries where no quota had been agreed upon (35 to France, 21 to Australia and 4 to the Netherlands).
The United States of America quota was not met as a result of the country’s decision to reduce the number of refugees it will admit for resettlement over the coming year, as announced in September 2019. Out of the total submissions, 91% were Congolese, 6% were South Sudanese and 3% were others. Some 12% of the refugees were submitted under the Woman at Risk category and 43% under the Survivors of Violence category, while 5% were submitted for medical reasons. UNHCR submitted the largest number of refugees for resettlement in Africa. A total of 3,288 refugees were departed to resettlement countries, with 1,410 to the United States of America, 1,151 to Norway, 305 to Sweden, 165 to Canada, 120 to Australia, 6 to France and 4 to the Netherlands.
In light of the reduced resettlement quota and the change in the composition of the refugee population in Uganda, UNHR changed its resettlement strategy in October 2019. It ended the Regional Initiative for Enhanced Resettlement of Congolese Refugees, that started in 2012, and focused on the resettlement of protection and medical referrals of all nationalities.
Data on 25,000 refugees was migrated from UNHCR V3 refugee database to the resettlement module of the new proGres V4 refugee database, which resettlement staff started using in October 2019. UNHCR adopted new resettlement standard operating procedures, which reinforced integrity measures and oversight in the resettlement process.
All UNHCR staff, partners and Government officials, were trained on prevention, identification, and response to fraud. Updated anti-fraud posters with the toll-free helpline to the Feedback Referral and Resolution Mechanism and contact to the UNHCR’s Inspector General’s Office, were placed in all locations. This information was continuously communicated to refugees during every refugee townhall/village meeting as well as at the beginning of each interview. In Nakivale refugee settlement, protection desks were operated daily to answer questions. In Kampala protection desks were open four times a week.
Following the reduction of the resettlement programme and in application of the Three-Year Strategy (2019-2021) on Complementary Pathways, UNHCR provided counselling and support to refugees who could benefit from third country admissions, especially family reunification and international scholarships.