World Refugee Day 2026: Our recommendations for durable safety

The UN marks the 75^th anniversary of the 1961 Refugee Convention under the slogan “Until Everyone Is Safe.” Yet, the political climate has rarely been more hostile to the fundamental human right to seek asylum.

On this World Refugee Day, we join others to celebrate the amazing strength and contributions of all those who persevere despite the immense hardship of displacement. But we also see this day as an opportunity to reflect on the policies that shape refugees’ lives – and our own, and to envision how governments can do better, under international and EU law alike.

So what would it really take to ensure everyone’s safety, especially in the EU? The UN has long identified three durable solutions to displacement: resettlement, voluntary repatriation, and local integration. Furthermore, recognising refugees as partners and contributors is key to meaningful and sustainable policy making. We share our thoughts on why such long-term solutions are especially important just now.

Finding our way back to responsibility sharing

The international refugee protection system is founded on the principle of shared responsibility. Yet the past years have seen a worrying trend towards responsibility shifting.

In 2025, refugee resettlement quotas fell to their lowest level in more than two decades, lower even than the reduced numbers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States, historically the world’s largest resettlement country, lowered its admission ceiling from 125 000 to just 7 500 people in 2026, introducing a reduction of 94%. The EU countries, in addition, have agreed on a 75%-drop in their resettlement and humanitarian admission commitments for the 2026-2027 period, with only nine out of 27 countries participating in the pledging cycle.

For those living in protracted displacement situations, however, resettlement often represents the only safe and legal pathway to rebuild their lives. Such schemes also alleviate the pressure on countries hosting large refugee populations – typically low- and middle-income states which carry a disproportionate share of the global responsibility.

The declining resettlement quotas thus risk creating a vacuum in international protection. It forces people with no other options into dangerous onward journeys, or leaves them stuck in an indefinite limbo. Investing in resettlement, therefore, is a humanitarian imperative.

But it is also a practical policy tool. Resettlement provides an orderly alternative to dangerous journeys and fosters international cooperation at a time when the latter seems to have become a lost art. Resettlement has also been named a durable solution as it breaks the vicious cycle of displacement that could drag down whole generations. And, importantly, it creates value to host countries.

MPG’s research as part of the HumMingBird project, for example,  has also shown how restrictive migration and border policies without legal pathways create obstacles to accessing asylum. At the same time, inclusive policies create a virtuous circle of integration and interaction.

Demanding that the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum strengthens protection

Meanwhile in the EU, the new Pact on Migration and Asylum entered into force a week ago, on 12 June. While it seeks to improve coordination and create more predictable migration governance, its success will depend on whether it manages to instill efficient procedures without losing sight of fundamental human rights.

The right to seek asylum is a core principle of international and EU law and must remain at the heart of the implementation efforts. New border procedures, accelerated processes, and screening mechanisms should not come at the expense of access to protection or procedural fairness. Equally worrying is the growing reliance on externalisation which allows migration management to be shared with third countries. While, as noted earlier, international cooperation is essential, externalisation partnerships must not lead to refugees being stranded in places where access to protection is denied, and where conditions are inhumane.

Luckily, there are concrete, evidence-based steps the EU can take to ensure that the pact is a success both for Europe and refugees. External cooperation should be accompanied by clear human rights safeguards, transparent oversight, and effective accountability mechanisms. Independent monitoring systems are essential to ensure that implementation complies with the EU’s legal obligations, and to prevent violations such as unlawful pushbacks, arbitrary detention, or denial of access to asylum procedures. Systems that are transparent, accountable, and rights-compliant – as opposed to driven solely by deterrence – are more likely to achieve durable outcomes for both the EU and refugees, as well as to win public confidence in the long-term.

MPG has been clear on the pitfalls and the potential of the pact – see our reflection paper, as well as our timely Migrant Return Policy Index (MIREX) and its recommendations. While voluntary repatriations can be a durable solution, the EU’s short-sighted approach to the issue of returns should be corrected on the basis of the evidence our work brings forward.

Refugees as partners in policymaking

Finally, while integration has been well-established as a durable solution to displacement, too many migrant communities across the EU find themselves consistently having to remind policy makers of the motto “Nothing about us without us.”

Refugee policies are often developed for refugees, rather than with and by them. Across the EU and beyond, however, refugee-led organisations have emerged as central actors in humanitarian responses, integration, community support and advocacy. Their lived experience provides precious insights that local institutions and policy makers simply cannot tap into on their own.

Participation is thus not simply a matter of representation. Evidence has consistently shown that policies are more effective, responsive and sustainable when those directly affected by them contribute to their development. Involving refugees improves policy design and implementation, and strengthen trust between institutions and communities. It also ensures that measures respond to real refugee needs rather than assumptions. The return on investment is, in short, huge. The meaningful participation of refugees – from the moment of policy conception to implementation and evaluation – should become a standard feature of refugee governance.

MPG has long championed refugee and migrants’ political participation, including through the ongoing New Europeans Initiative. Most recently, drawing on our Political Participation Policy Index (PPPI) and other available data, our research uncovered how political participation frameworks shape refugees and migrants’ political engagement, offering concrete findings and key policy recommendations.

In addition, refugees have been acknowledged for their amazing contributions and ingenuity, including across EU countries. MPG has long worked to provide policy recommendations on how to further enable this work. Get inspired by checking our latest INNOVATE policy briefs on strengthening migrant entrepreneurs, as well as the Newcomer Entrepreneurship Support (NES) and the Migrant Entrepreneurship Growth Agenda (MEGA) handbooks.

A call for and rights- and evidence-based participatory policies

The challenges of displacement are so complex that only well-coordinated, long-term solutions can work. On World Refugee Day, we reaffirm our commitment to protection, solidarity, and human dignity. In practice, this means working towards and expanding durable solution schemes, including through safe pathways such as resettlement, ensuring that the implementation of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum respects the right to asylum, and recognising refugees for the partners and contributors they truly are.

At MPG, we stand with refugees and continue to offer our support to decision makers across the EU and beyond to help them embed evidence and meaningful participation into the policies that shape our common future.