25,000 Bhutanese refugees resettled in third country
KATHMANDU: The UN refugee agency and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) today said that the 25,000th refugees from Bhutan has left camps in the eastern Nepal for a number of host countries abroad to begin a new life.
The resettlement programme in Nepal — one of UNHCR’S largest — has been going on since November 2007 and is continuing successfully with the cooperation among the Government of Nepal, UNHCR, IOM and the resettlement countries, to enable a smooth and effective process.
The United States has accepted the largest number of the refugees followed by Australia, Canada, Norway, Denmark, New Zealand and the Netherlands.
In total, 22,060 refugees have left for the US, 1,006 for Australia, 892 for Canada, 316 for Norway, 305 for Denmark, 299 for New Zealand and 122 for the Netherlands. “We have been receiving regular feedback from those resettled. They have written to us about their lives — they are learning new languages,” said Diane Goodman, UNHCR Acting Representative in Nepal.
IOM works with UNHCR and the host countries to facilitate refugee departures from Nepal. IOM processes cases for resettlement countries, conducts health assessments and cultural orientation courses in accordance with guidelines of the country of resettlement, and organises all transportation from the refugee camps to final destination, said UNHCR in Kathmandu.
“The objective is to facilitate resettlement in a quick, efficient and dignified manner,” said Sarat Dash, IOM Chief of Mission. “The success of this project is directly attributable to the good cooperation among the Government of Nepal, the countries of resettlement, UNHCR and IOM. This has truly been a team effort.”
Some 86,739 refugees from Bhutan remain in seven camps in eastern Nepal. Further, 556 are expected to resettle this year. More than 80,728 refugees have already expressed their interest for resettlement.
