OECD-UNHCR: Safe Pathways for Refugees
OECD-UNHCR: Safe Pathways for Refugees
Amina waits patiently in Aden airport’s departure lounge. Standing at the window, she gazes at the plane that will be the first leg of her journey to her mother — a journey that has been five years in the making.
In a world where more than 110 million people are forcibly displaced from their homes, finding effective solutions is a pressing need. Complementary pathways enable refugees to regain their agency and leverage their skills, family connections, and social networks to build a future in a third country. Access to migration pathways also empowers people forced to flee to give back to the communities that welcome them and cover critical skill and knowledge gaps in various countries.
By offering safe alternatives, migration pathways can save lives and support State efforts to manage population movements in an orderly manner, combating trafficking and smuggling networks. The expansion of complementary pathways is a tangible example of responsibility-sharing and involves a diverse range of actors, including the private sector, academia, States and refugees themselves, aligning with the spirit of the Global Compact on Refugees.
The Safe Pathways for Refugees report
Reliable evidence and data are critical for informing decision-making and planning around complementary pathways. UNHCR collaborates with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on the release of the fifth edition of the “Safe Pathways for Refugees” report series. The study addresses the information gap and contributes to building the evidence base for complementary pathways and family reunification. It also serves as a valuable resource to report on the progress made towards achieving the Roadmap 2030 goal of admitting 2.1 million refugees by 2030.
The project began in 2018 and compiles data from 37 OECD countries and Brazil, focusing on the number of first-time entry permits issued to nationalities with high asylum recognition rates for family, education, and work purposes with an additional spotlight on sponsorship figures. For the first time, this edition includes data on Sudanese in addition to the other seven nationalities traditionally covered in the report Afghans, Eritreans, Iranians, Iraqis, Syrians, Somalis, and Venezuelans.
Edition V (2025)
As evidenced in the report, the overall permit figures for 2023 were high in both absolute and relative terms. The nearly 255,000 new family, work and study permits issued represent an increase of 14 per cent compared to 2022. As a result of continued growth, 2023 figures surpassed not only pre-pandemic levels but the 2017 peak, reaching the highest number of yearly issuances yet within the overall period of data collection (2010-2023). In addition to this promising finding, the report also analyses figures and trends in destination countries, permit types and nationality to better understand nuances and impact in order to offer conclusions and recommendations to stakeholders, guiding the way forward in scaling access to safe pathways.
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*For the purpose of this study, permits are considered as any first-time authorization issued by a receiving country to lawfully allow a foreign national to enter the country for family reunification, work or study purposes. Moreover, the report includes some figures on admissions via sponsorship pathways where available.
Safe Pathways for Refugees IV (2024)
The fourth edition covers data from 2010 to 2022. It was issued to support the momentum generated around complementary pathways during the Global Refugee Forum 2023 and to more closely monitor progress towards Roadmap 2030. The publication aimed to help States, private actors, non-governmental organizations, refugee-led and diaspora groups and other actors engaged in multi-stakeholder pledges in planning their next steps for turning their commitments into action.
The figures of permits issued for 2022 were remarkably high in both relative and absolute terms. The nearly 215,000 new permits granted mark an increase of 38 per cent compared to 2021, the largest year-on-year growth within the period that this publication series covers (2010-2022). The resulting figure surpassed pre-pandemic levels to reach the highest number of issuances since 2017 and the second-highest yearly number within the overall period of analysis.
Safe Pathways for Refugees III (2023)
The third edition of the report covers data from 2010 until 2021. During this period, over 1.8 million permits were issued by 37 OECD countries and Brazil to seven nationalities (Iraqis, Syrians, Venezuelans, Somalis, Afghans, Iranians, Eritreans) for family, study and work purposes. This is the first edition of the report to include data on sponsorship pathways (from Canada and Australia). It is also the first edition to incorporate stories of refugees with lived experience of complementary pathways.
Safe Pathways for Refugees II (2021)
The second edition of the report covers data from 2010 to 2019 and expands nationalities covered to include Venezuela and Iran, in addition to Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iraq, Somalia and Syria. Also, for the first time, the report expands its scope to include Brazil, whose authorities have voluntarily agreed to participate in this data collection exercise. According to the findings, 156,000 permits were issued to individuals of the seven nationalities by OECD countries and Brazil for work, family and study purposes.
Safe Pathways for Refugees I (2019)
The first edition of the Safe Pathways for Refugees report focuses on the numbers of permits issued to five nationalities (Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iraq, Somalia and Syria) from OECD countries for family, work and study purposes. The nationalities have been selected on the basis of several indicators and factors, including their high representation in the global refugee population and their generally high recognition rates. The first edition features data from 2010 to 2017.
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