Coming into the UK – Resettlement of Refugees into the UK

IOM plays an important role world-wide in the resettlement of refugees, working on health assessment, document handling, cultural orientation (LINK) and transport.

In 2003, the UK government decided to receive and resettle 500 refugees from various parts of the world. This quota was increased to 750 in the financial year 2008/2009.  IOM have been facilitating pre-departure medical screening, counselling, dossier preparation, transport and immediate arrival assistance for these refugees before they are helped into communities by local NGOs.

The programme aims to help refugees from different parts of the world and in this initial phase, refugees from West and East Africa have been identified and helped to settle in the United Kingdom . Due to the world-wide reach of IOM, refugees from all parts of the world can be helped to resettle in the UK .

The funding for the programme is provided by the United Kingdom Border Agency (UKBA) and the European Refugee Fund (ERF) and implemented under the umbrella of the Gateway Protection Programme, in partnership with the UK government, IOM, UNHCR, local authorities and an interagency partnership of 8 NGOs in the UK .