↝ Humanitarian admission
Humanitarian admission is the process by which countries admit groups from refugee populations in third countries to provide temporary protection on humanitarian grounds.
Humanitarian Admission Programmes are often used as an expedited process to enable large numbers of people in refugee circumstances to depart quickly to a safe receiving country.
Generally, people entering a country via a humanitarian admission program do not have their refugee status determined before arrival. Rather, they apply for asylum when they arrive in their destination country.
Spotlight
Unlocking Access to Protection: Do Humanitarian Visas Hold the Key?
As states explore ways to expand access to protection, humanitarian visas offer an important avenue for examining how existing migration and visa systems can be adapted to support international protection.
The chapter “Unlocking Access to Protection under the UN Global Compacts: Do Humanitarian Visas Hold the Key?” by Pauline Endres de Oliveira and Nikolas Feith-Tan examines the potential of humanitarian visas within the framework of the UN Global Compacts. The chapter forms part of Visas in Migration and Asylum Law: The Key that Opens the Door, a collection examining the multiple roles of visas in migration governance, asylum, and human rights protection. It considers humanitarian visas alongside broader questions of how visa systems can facilitate access to international protection.
The resource offers a valuable legal and policy perspective for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners interested in humanitarian admission and complementary pathways. It contributes to broader discussions about how visa systems can move beyond migration control to create safer, more accessible routes to protection for people affected by displacement.
New resources
Updates on humanitarian admission
Information & data sources
Home Office (UK)
Eurostat (EU)