Today, Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson hosted a High-Level Forum to promote closer cooperation with partner countries and organisations to expand safe and legal avenues for those people in need of protection. 

High-level representatives from the EU Member States, the US, Canada, and the UK attended, together with UNHCR and IOM, Civil Society Organizations, refugees and businesses involved in Complementary Pathways for Labour.

16 EU Member States pledged more than 29.000 places for resettlement and humanitarian admission for 2023, including continued and expanded support to Afghans in need of protection. Once implemented, these pledges will trigger EU financial support for the Member States' resettlement and humanitarian admission schemes. The Commission has allocated aside €480 million over 2023-2025 to this end.

The Commission will continue working to expand community sponsorship schemes to underpin resettlement, humanitarian admission and other complementary pathways. The Commission will provide financial support via the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund to the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) for the implementation of a project to support hosts and develop good practices that can be replicated for future needs.

In addition to resettlement, the Forum stressed the opportunities of complementary pathways linked to work. The Commission will provide new funding for transnational projects linked to this priority. The Commission will continue working to leverage the experience of international partner countries and other key stakeholders on labour mobility schemes.

For further information on the High Level Forum, including the results and next steps, please visit this page.