ICMCEUROPE WelcometoEurope.pdf (5.89 MB)

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Chapter IV – The Resettlement Process: from Identification to Departure
In consultation with UNHCR, the Dutch government
selected a group of fifteen Eritrean
refugees living in Yemen to participate in the
pilot to test selection interviews through
video-conferencing.
In January 2011, the group was transferred
from a detention centre in Yemen to the
ETF. Among them, four persons were interviewed
by means of video-conferencing, and
interviews were recorded for further evaluation.
The emphasis of the pilot was on the
technical feasibility of the interview rather
than the interview technique. Although the
total number of interviews was too low to
conclude that the use of video-conferencing
would be cost effective in the long-term, the
technical quality of the interview was widely
acknowledged. 30
Source: Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation
Service, Video Interview Pilot, February 2011
Palestinian refugees waiting for resettlement
at the Evacuation Transit Centre in Timisoara,
Romania/UNHCR/F.Chiu
30 Recommendations for future interviewing by videoconference
can be found at: www.resettlement.eu/
resource/video-interview-pilot.
3.3.2. Emergency Transit Facilities
The concept of Emergency Transit
Facilities (ETFs) was developed in
response to the emergency protection
needs of refugees. UNHCR, in cooperation
with governments in Romania,
Slovakia and the Philippines, 31 has
opened ETFs in Timisoara (established
in 2008) and Humenné (established
in 2009), and an Emergency Transit
Mechanism (ETM) in Manila (also
established in 2009). Together, these
facilities have a capacity of 400 places
for refugees in need of a safe location
while they await resettlement. In June
2012, Slovakia increased its capacity by
50%, and now provides places for 150
refugees.
ETFs offer a secure environment for
conducting interviews and medical
examinations, as well as for providing
cultural orientation and language
classes. ETFs are now also used in situations
where resettlement countries
experience difficulties in accessing
refugees, due to security or political
reasons in the country of asylum, and
so require refugees to be moved for the
purpose of further processing. 32 These
situations are not emergencies as such,
and the use of ETFs in this context
marks an expansion of their role within
the wider resettlement process.
31 Tripartite agreements establishing ETFs were concluded
by UNHCR, IOM and the governments of
Romania, Slovakia and the Philippines, respectively.
32 UNHCR Guidance note on Emergency Transit
Facilities, 4 May 2011