Some refugees will ultimately be unable to return to their home coutnries and many will apply to be resettled in a third country. In 2011, the International Rescue Committee’s 22 regional resettlement offices across the United States helped resettle some 7,000 newly arrived refugees and provided services to over 24,000 refugees, asylees and victims of human trafficking.

Only a small number of countries currently resettle refugees. The United States is the world’s top resettlement country, while Australia, Canada and the Scandinavian countries also provide a sizeable number of places each year. In recent years there has been an increase in the number of countries involved in resettlement in Europe and Latin America.