US to resettle 15,000 refugees in one year
Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration Ellen Sauerbrey has said at least 15,000 Bhutanese refugees will be flown to the US in the next one year.
According to refugee run news site apfanews.com, during her address to refugees in Goldhap camp in Jhapa on Friday, she said the process of resettlement would be further accelerated in the next year.
On the second day of her two-day visit to Jhapa, she visited Beldangi and Goldhap camps where she assured the refugees that her government will put pressure on Bhutanese and Indian government for repatriation of those who don't want to resettle in third countries.
She asked the refugees to officially apply for resettlement in the US at the office of the International Organisation of Migration ((IOM) recently established in Damak, apfanews.com said.
The UNHCR has already said resettlement of the refugee in third countries will formally begin after Tihar.
Stressing that the resettlement was a temporary measure of finding a lasting solution of the two-decade long crisis, Ellen assured the right to return to homeland once the situation normalises.
Ellen further told the refugees that they would not have to live as refugees in the US but can enjoy all facilities that US citizens have a right to.
Abraham Abraham, the UNHCR chief for Nepal also asked the refugees to file application at the IOM office without any fear. The site stated that the term of UNHCR chief in Nepal Abraham Abraham will end shortly.
Chief of the IOM for Nepal David Dedrick had also accompanied the delegation to Jhapa where he answered queries raised by the refugees on screening processes.
Receiving memorandum from the secretaries of the camps in Beldangi, Ellen said her government will make efforts to bring Indian and Bhutan to agree on lasting solution of the crisis. The secretaries in Beldangi urged the US official to put pressure on India and Bhutan for their early repatriation.
Meanwhile, deputy Chief District Officer of Jhapa Laxman Hamal said the Nepal government has formally decided to allow the resettlement of the Bhutanese refugees to western countries.
On Thursday, she had held meeting with security officers and chief district officer of Jhapa seeking information on current security situation in the camps. She also inspected the Damak office of the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) established for interviewing the refugee before resettlement begins.
Sauerbrey is in 12-day tour to Nepal, India and Bhutan in an effort to begin the resettlement of over 60,000 refugees in the US over the next few years.
She will return to Kathmandu to meet Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and other government officers before leaving for Bhutan. nepalnews.com ia Nov 02 07
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