As many as 88 thousand of the 108 thousand Bhutanese refugees living in camps in Jhapa and Morang districts have been resettled in third countries.
They have been resettled in different countries through the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) with the support of the international community.
IOM has been sending the Bhutanese refugees for third country settlement since the last seven years under its refugee resettlement programme. The United States is the country taking in the largest number of Bhutanese refugees for resettlement. Eighty-five thousand six hundred and fifty-one refugees are settled in the U.S.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, 4819 refugees are settled in Australia, 5778 in Canada, 852 in Denmark, 326 in the Netherlands and 550 in Norway. These countries have arranged for permanent settlement of the refugees while the remaining refugees would also be gradually sent to the countries providing them refuge.
The population of the Bhutanese refugees which was around 100 thousand initially has increased by 8,000 in a period of two decades.
The third country rehabilitation programme has been implemented after the international community including the U.S.A. made efforts for their rehabilitation on humanitarian grounds following the failure of 15 rounds of talks between Nepal and Bhutan for resolving the refugee problem.
Only those refugees voluntarily opting to go to the third countries for resettlement have been taken there. There is still a large population of refugees who want dignified repatriation to their home country. SETOPATI
चैत्र १३ गते, २०७० मा प्रकाशित
