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Rich countries have resettled a tiny fraction of Syrian refugees – UK set to take just over a fifth of its fair share

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Rich countries have resettled only 1.39 percent of the nearly five million Syrian refugees, a fraction of the 10 percent of people who need to be urgently offered a safe haven. As states meet in Geneva on 30 March to discuss the Syria refugee crisis, Oxfam urges them to redouble their efforts and offer their ‘fair share’ of support to hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Collectively, rich nations have so far pledged to take 129,966 Syrian refugees, only 27 percent of the minimum they should. And of those, only 67,000 have actually made it to their final destination.

Oxfam analysis released today shows that only three countries – Canada, Germany, Norway – have made resettlement pledges exceeding their ‘fair share’, which is calculated according to the size of their economy, and five others – Australia, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand – have pledged more than half of it.  By the end of this year, the UK is set to take just over a fifth of its fair share.

Mark Goldring, Chief Executive of Oxfam GB said: ‘It’s shocking that while people continue to flee Syria most countries have failed to provide a safe home for the most vulnerable. While the British government has been generous in providing financial aid, it’s only offered to resettle 20,000 people by 2020, approximately 5,000 people a year. This is simply not good enough and Britain can and should do more.’

In Lebanon, one in five inhabitants is a Syrian refugee. In Jordan, they constitute 10 percent of the population, and the fourth largest ‘city’ is a refugee camp.

‘Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey are struggling to cope with almost five million Syrian refugees. Rich nations should be doing more to share the responsibility and offer refuge to some of the most vulnerable women and children affected by this crisis.’ Goldring said.

While peace talks and a partial ceasefire have given Syrians a glimmer of hope, it will take years before they can go back home and rebuild their lives. Rich countries have reacted to this crisis by providing aid funds, and offering resettlement to refugees, but have failed to match the levels needed.

Some attempts to use resettlement as a bargaining chip in political deals, like the recent EU-Turkey deal, are deeply troubling and pose political, ethical and probably legal questions. Resettlement should be about providing a home to vulnerable refugees, not a method for managing migration or justifying harsh asylum policies.

Oxfam calls for the resettlement or other forms of humanitarian admission in rich countries of 10 percent of all registered Syrian refugees by the end of 2016, the equivalent of around 480,000 people.

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