India, June 29 -- GENEVA - UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, estimates that 2.5 million refugees worldwide will need to be resettled next year, according to the Projected Global Resettlement Needs report released this morning.
While the figure remains high, annual resettlement needs have decreased for next year - down from 2.9 million in 2025, even as the global number of refugees continues to grow. This is mainly due to the changed situation in Syria, which has allowed for voluntary returns. We are seeing some people pull out of resettlement processes in favour of plans to go home to rebuild.
For 2026, the largest refugee populations that will need to be resettled are Afghans (573,400), Syrians (442,400), South Sudanese (258,200), Sudanese (...