Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
On behalf of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, I'd like to thank you for inviting me to appear before this committee. UNHCR notes with satisfaction the particular interest of the committee in the protection of vulnerable populations and internally displaced persons or those we refer to as IDPs.
Our intention had been that I would be joined today by the head of UNHCR's Middle East and North Africa protection service, but regretfully, my colleague had a scheduling conflict and is unable to join me at this time. I would suggest that if there are any technical questions relating to specific populations, we may respond to the committee's questions in writing following my appearance today.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established by the UN General Assembly in 1950 to protect and assist refugees and to find solutions for them. At that time, there were one million refugees, mainly from eastern Europe. Today, over 65 years later, UNHCR is confronted with refugee emergencies and displacement on a scale never seen before. According to UNHCR's global trends report, there were 65.3 million refugees forcibly displaced worldwide, an all-time high, including 21.3 million refugees, 40.8 million IDPs—another record level—and 3.2 million asylum-seekers awaiting a decision on their applications, all in 2015.
With respect to IDPs, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre says that in 2015 there were 8.6 million who were newly displaced within the borders of their own countries by armed conflict, generalized violence, and human rights violations last year. Six countries combined accounted for 84% of the all new IDPs, five of which are Iraq, Ukraine, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Afghanistan.
Mr. Chairman, primary responsibility for internally displaced persons rests with authorities of their respective countries, but the international community and the UN have a responsibility to share that obligation to respect and secure the rights of IDPs, particularly when states are unable or unwilling to do so. UNHCR has revisited its internal procedures and guidelines for our own involvement in IDP situations. When IDP situations arise that are linked or similar to refugee returnee situations, and where there is a need for intervention, we will intervene provided that it is at the request of the UN and in collaboration with other UN agencies and humanitarian partners.
UNHCR's protection assistance program for IDPs has traditionally covered a wide range of situations and activities. In practice, the nature, extent, and duration of our activities on behalf of IDPs varies as a function of the particular circumstances of displacement, including the pattern of displacement, the absorption capacity of the communities to which they have fled, the willingness and ability of authorities there to provide at least minimum protection against attack or abuse, the duration of displacement, and the demographic composition of the group being displaced.
Availability of funds is obviously an important factor that shapes the extent of our involvement with a particular population. I should note that right now we've only received 43% of the funds needed for the Syria operation. Many other operations are at much lower funding levels.
Since armed conflict and human rights abuses are major causes of displacement, UNHCR's activities entail presences in areas affected by serious disturbance or conflict, where physical safety and security are key concerns, recognizing that concerns about physical safety of UN staff can also limit the scope of our activities. UNHCR assistance has also entailed helping national authorities and other actors to extend essential services to IDPs, particularly in rural areas, including delivering non-food relief items, establishing basic health care facilities, and providing shelter.
As I noted at the outset, when UNHCR was created, it was given the mandate by the United Nations General Assembly to provide protection solutions for refugees. So, Canada's willingness to resettle thousands of refugees each year is key to UNHCR being able to fulfill its durable solutions mandate. UNHCR, by virtue of its mandate, promotes and coordinates resettlement among more than 20 countries, and identifies those refugees in need of resettlement based on criteria agreed upon among all resettlement countries to which UNHCR prioritizes refugees with acute protection needs and vulnerabilities.
UNHCR identifies refugees for Canada's government-assisted refugee program and its blended visa officer referred program. Further, UNHCR's role in referring refugees for resettlement is set out in the immigration and refugee protection regulations. Canada deserves particular commendation for the sizeable expansion of its resettlement program over the past year. UNHCR has expressed our deep gratitude to the government and the people of Canada for the opportunity you've given to thousands of Syrian refugees over the past year to rebuild their lives in Canada. UNHCR also thanks Canada for its pledge to continue to resettle refugees from Syria throughout the remainder of 2016, and we look forward to Canada's participation in future international refugee and resettlement-related forums where it may indicate its planning for 2017 and beyond.
As an aside, I should also add UNHCR's continued appreciation for the $150 million Canada has given to UNHCR so far this year—a record—of which $100 million is in support of our Syria operation in the Middle East.
What is important to note is that, if IRCC fulfills the objectives it has presented to Parliament for 2016 admissions, this year will have the largest number of resettlement arrivals since the Immigration Act of 1976, when an official refugee program was first introduced. While this is a cause for celebration, the unfortunate reality is that despite Canada's generous increase, the number of available resettlement places by all resettlement countries does not in any way meet the refugee resettlement needs identified by the UNHCR. Just one month ago the UNHCR released its global projected resettlement needs document, which examines the global refugee population and identifies, among the record number of refugees, who is most in need of resettlement. According to UNHCR's assessment, 1.19 million refugees are in need of resettlement. In contrast, only an estimated 120,000 resettlement spaces are made available to UNHCR by resettlement countries each year, recognizing that resettlement is a voluntary activity of states. In this context, UNHCR is urging countries to continue to expand their resettlement programs, as well as encouraging states to develop new pathways, including humanitarian transfers or visas, private sponsorship, medical evacuation, family reunion, academic scholarships, apprenticeships, and labour schemes.
All of this increased resettlement activity falls on the thirtieth anniversary of the awarding of the Nansen medal to the people of Canada—the only time the medal has been awarded to the people of a country—recognizing their work to assist refugees. These values of openness and generosity, for which Canadians have been recognized, are ones we wish to continue to encourage, particularly for the large number of refugees who remain in need of a solution.
I would like to conclude my statement today by recognizing that greater international co-operation is needed to address the challenges around increasing internal displacement worldwide. The restoration of peace and the protection of human rights are the best ways to provide truly effective protection to the internally displaced. These are ultimately the responsibility of governments. The forms of protection and humanitarian assistance that can be provided by UNHCR to persons within their own countries serve primarily to promote or reinforce national protection, which itself must be provided by the national authorities. International organizations can play a supportive role, but they cannot substitute for governments in the protection of their own people.
Thank you once again for inviting me. I will be happy to try to address any questions you may have.