A/HRC/49/44 care, including sexual and reproductive healthcare - face further obstacles to obtaining essential services in an already dismal situation.122 50. The Special Rapporteur echoes the concerns of humanitarian experts and actors that while “neutrality” is a fundamental pillar of humanitarian aid delivery, it should not mean “religiously blind.” 123 It is essential for humanitarian actors to pay attention to both appropriate treatment of affected communities’ religious beliefs and practices and religious diversity in humanitarian settings.124 Since humanitarian actors may operate in conflict and insecure contexts driven, at least partly, by marginalization and persecution of communities based on their religious or belief identity, they should consider these identities in programmatic and policy responses. This would help in identifying and addressing minorities' specific challenges in equally accessing humanitarian aid.125 (iv) Barriers to effective resettlement, reintegration, and remedy 51. In 2021, UNHCR estimated that 1.4 million of over 30.5 million refugees and asylum seekers need resettlement, and an estimated 15.7 million are in a “protracted refugee situation.”126 Reportedly, some States have constructed their asylum seeker policy based on notions about which religious or belief communities will successfully “integrate;” characterizing some as a threat while depicting others as “good refugees,” with discriminatory consequences. Following the European Union’s pledge to resettle and relocate additional refugees in need of protection, 127 several Member States, including Hungary, Slovakia, Cyprus, and Czech Republic, reportedly announced that they would favour admitting non-Muslim refugees, particularly Christians, citing concerns about cultural cohesion. In 2015, Australia announced that it would prioritize Christians in its Syrian refugee resettlement program. The U.S. Government made a similar pledge in 2017, with Christian refugees reportedly constituting most of those granted asylum in subsequent years.128 52. Other host States may ignore the religious or belief identity of refugees when considering their requests for resettlement for the sake of neutrality, thereby overlooking contextual circumstances where individuals face increased risk of violence and persecution based on this identity.129 The Special Rapporteur warns that prioritizing religious identity as a factor in resettlement decisions may pose challenges, especially discrimination between minorities, blindness to those most at risk,130 and reliance on oversimplified understandings of conflict and persecution. 53. Rights monitors have raised concern about forced repatriations, including as part of measures in response to COVID-19, 131 that put refugees, including religious or belief minorities, at increased risk of discrimination, harassment, and violence and can violate the principle of non-refoulement.132 Reportedly, some Syrian refugees forcibly returned from Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan have faced arbitrary arrests, mistreatment, torture, and enforced disappearances from Syrian authorities upon their return.133 In 2019, the Danish Government 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 14 https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/05/06/i-would-four-kids-if-we-stay-alive/womens-access-healthcare-afghanistan. Consultation-Humanitarian aid. https://www.unhcr.org/admin/hcspeeches/50c84f5f9/high-commissioners-dialogue-protectionchallenges-theme-faith-protection.html. https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/20.500.12413/15718/CREID_Workin g_Paper_4.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y; https://www.ids.ac.uk/publications/understandinginclusivity-of-religious-diversity-in-humanitarian-response/. https://www.unhcr.org/60b638e37.pdf. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/SPEECH_15_5421. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/10/07/key-facts-about-refugees-to-the-u-s/. HCR/GIP/04/06. https://www.unhcr.org/46f7c0ee2.pdf. https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25882&LangID=E. 1951 Refugee Convention, art.33. https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/10/20/our-lives-are-death/syrian-refugee-returns-lebanon-andjordan; https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/amnesty-youregoingtoyourdeath.pdf;