Geneva, January 13:

Several Western countries have offered to take in Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal for more than a decade, the UN’s refugee agency said today.

Ron Redmond, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, declined to identify the nations who have come forward, but said it was an important development.

Mounting security concerns after the end of the ceasefire and the rising tensions in the Bhutanese refugee’s camps have increased the need to act, he said. “There are currently some very vulnerable cases submitted for resettlement to third countries,” Redmond said.