Kathmandu, September 4:

The International Organisation of Migration (IOM) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nepal to open an office in Kathmandu and implement migration programmes here.

The agreement signed last Thursday will allow IOM to begin to process for resettlement of Bhutanese refugees, currently living in camps in the east of the country, in the USA.

In May 2007, the US government selected IOM to act as its Overseas Processing Entity (OPE) for resettlement of the Bhutanese refugees.

While hopes remain that some of the refugees may eventually be able to return to Bhutan, as many as 60,000 of the refugees referred by UNHCR are expected to opt for resettlement in the USA.

“IOM will help the US government select case files of refugees for resettlement, provide medical screening and cultural orientation, and organise the complex logistics of moving the refugees from camps to the USA,” David Derthick at IOM Kathmandu told this daily.

The MoU will now allow IOM to work in Nepal in the areas of labour migration, capacity building, advisory services, migration health, international migration law, counter trafficking, return of qualified nationals, assisted return from third countries, and emergency and post-crisis interventions.