ICMC Provides Crucial Assistance for Refugee Resettlement in Europe

May 25, 2026

By Rachel Westerby

As global resettlement needs continue to grow, ICMC is supporting European resettlement efforts at the EUAA Resettlement Support Facility (EUAA RSF) in Istanbul

Refugees selected for resettlement to the Netherlands via the EUAA RSF take part in a Pre-Departure Orientation class, with three refugees pointing to locations on a world map placed on the floor — Refugees selected for resettlement to the Netherlands via the EUAA RSF take part in Pre-Departure Orientation © 2024 Stefano Schirato/European Union. All rights reserved. Certain parts are licensed under conditions to the EU

Resettlement to third countries allows vulnerable refugees to move away from dangerous situations and start rebuilding their lives. For more than 70 years, it has provided a crucial lifeline for millions of people in need of protection, all around the world.

For 2026, UNHCR estimates that approximately 2.5 million refugees around the world are in need of resettlement. In 2024, however, just over 116,000 people benefited from this solution – fewer than 5% of those identified as in need.

This mismatch between the number of individuals in need of resettlement and the places offered by receiving countries is set to grow further, following the 2025 termination of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). In this context, the resettlement efforts of European countries are crucial to ensuring that resettlement remains a viable and accessible protection solution for the world’s most vulnerable refugees.

Expanding Europe’s resettlement capacity: the EUAA Resettlement Support Facility

Since 2019, ICMC has assisted the resettlement operations of the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) via the Resettlement Support Facility (EUAA RSF), located in Istanbul and operated in collaboration with Jesuit Refugee Service. Expert ICMC staff facilitate missions to the EUAA RSF by European country delegations, to interview refugees (selection missions), prepare selected refugees (Pre-Departure Orientation/PDO), and facilitate departures.

“For selection missions, we provide logistical support to country delegations conducting interviews with refugees, and liaise with refugees to organize their participation,” explains Inanc Ozan Zaimoglu, ICMC’s EUAA Project Coordinator for the RSF. “In 2025, we supported ten countries to conduct 16 selection missions, meaning 1,360 refugees were able to access the wider resettlement process.”

A group of refugee students participating in a Pre-Departure Orientation class at the EUAA RSF. — A group of refugee students participating in a Pre-Departure Orientation class at the EUAA RSF © 2024 Stefano Schirato/European Union. All rights reserved. Certain parts are licensed under conditions to the EU

ICMC’s EUAA RSF team help facilitate Pre-Departure Orientation (PDO), as requested by receiving country governments, and PDO missions to the EUAA RSF are conducted by European country delegations. In 2025, 555 selected refugees participated in six PDO missions at the EUAA RSF, conducted by four country delegations.

“PDO is essentially about helping refugees to understand more about where they’re going, and for us is really beneficial for selected refugees,” says Zaimoglu. “Each country that receives resettled refugees takes its own approach to PDO, and we flexibly facilitate PDO missions from country delegations at their request.”

The RSF also coordinates refugee departures, arranging pre-departure medical screenings, and liaising with refugees on departure arrangements.

“European countries are continuing their support for resettlement year on year, and using the flexible support and expertise provided by the RSF to put it into action,” says Zaimoglu. “We’re proud that the EUAA RSF is contributing to the continuation of resettlement in Europe.”

‘At the center for more than 40 years’: ICMC assisting global resettlement operations

While the EUAA RSF has been operating since 2019, ICMC has long been at the center of global resettlement operations.

ICMC played a major role in resettling refugees from Vietnam to the U.S., through the Orderly Departure Program beginning in 1979. The program resettled more than 500,000 people in its 20 years of operation.

An ICMC bus used in ICMC's resettlement operations in the Philippines from the early 1970s — An ICMC bus used in ICMC’s resettlement operations in the Philippines from the early 1970s © ICMC

From the early 1980s, ICMC’s Resettlement Support Center – Türkiye and the Middle East (RSC TuME) assisted more than 1 million refugees in Türkiye and Lebanon to find safety in the United States. This long-standing partnership with the U.S. government, spanning more than 40 years, was ended in 2025 with the termination of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

For more than 25 years, ICMC has additionally been deploying refugee protection and resettlement experts to UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) field and refugee response operations. In 2025, 462 of the 531 ICMC experts included in the ICMC Deployment Roster brought specific expertise on resettlement, and ICMC deployees supported UNHCR operations in 24 countries around the world.