Kathmandu: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today completed a major process to resettle one lakh Bhutanese refugees currently residing in Nepal.
Nearly 80,000 refugees have settled in eight different countries, including the US and Canada, with the help of a joint initiative by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The resettlement of Bhutanese refugees residing in various camps of Eastern Nepal started in 2007 after several rounds of bilateral talks between Nepal and Bhutan failed to resolve the issue relating to repatriation of the refugees to Bhutan.
These refugees, known as ‘Lhotshampas’ (southerners), are group of people of Nepalese origin, including some Kirats, Tamangs, and Gurungs.
They were registered in refugee camps in eastern Nepal during the 1990s as Bhutanese citizens deported from Bhutan.
“Marking 100,000 submissions and reaching nearly 80,000 departures are incredible achievements in the history of this refugees programme,” said Diane Goodman, UNHCR Acting Representative in Nepal.
“We have been able to achieve these major milestones thanks to the generosity of the resettlement countries, donors and the great support provided by Government of Nepal,” she added.
So far 78,519 Bhutanese refugees have been resettled in different countries under the third country resettlement programme.
The United States has so far received 66,234 refugees whereas Canada and Australia have received 5,376 and 4,191 refugees respectively.
Other countries where the refugees got resettled include United Kingdom, Norway, New Zealand, The Netherlands and Denmark.
“There are altogether 108,000 refugees in the refugee camps of eastern Nepal and the processing of remaining 8,000 will begin very soon,” an UNHCR official said. (PTI)