Bhutanese population in US goes up (Resettlement)
California (USA), May 10: In the last three days 65 Bhutanese have made their way to US, their country of adoption after US government accelerates the resettlement process.
Departed from International Organization for Migration (IOM) transit camp in Kathmandu, May 7, en-route Abu Dabhi International Airport, 30 members of nine families arrived the JFK Intternational Airport, on May 8, escorted by the IOM official Arun Kumar Karki.
They were accommodated in a hotel in New York by IOM for a night and were dispatched to their designated destinations the following day.
On May 9, 2008, The American Flight # 1481 carried Ram Lachhi Magar and her baby son Milap Rana to the Oakland International Airport where her husband Milan Kumar Rana and Umesh Rai, the Vice Chairman of the Bhutanese American Community Center welcomed them with khadas.
“A distant air travel with a small baby was very challenging. It feels good to be reunited with the family. It was very important for my baby,” said Lachhi.
Other eight families also have left for their final destinations. Kaji and Meen Kumar Sunwar were resettled in Buffalo, New York; Chida Nanda Bhattarai’s three-member family in Concord, NH; Bishnu Lal Katel’s four-member family in Tucson, AZ; Nandi Maya, Indra Maya and Ganga Ram Khanal in Phoniex, AZ, where first batch of Bhutanese are already living; Durga Adhikari’s five-member family in Dallas, Texas; Chandra Maya and Prem Prasad Ghimere in Kansas City, KS: Pushpa Khar Koirala’s seven-member family in Portland, and Chhabi Lal and Khaga Maya Bhandari in Roanoke, VA.
Similarly, the group of 35 arrived on May 7. Gopal Darjee’s family of five members have been sent to Decatur-GA for resettlement; Chudamani Dahal’s four-member family to Decatur-GA; Sabitri Maya Darjee, a family of six, to New York, NY; four-member family of Prabhuram Chauhan to Phoenix, AZ; Hari Kumar Chauhan and other three of his family to Pheonix, AZ; Mon Maya Khatiwada, a family of six, to Manchester, NH; Kuber Phuyel, family of four, to Pittsburgs, PA and Purna Magar and his wife Buddhi Maya Magar to Oakland, California.
They were escorted by the IOM official Arjun Adhikari from the IOM transit camp in Katmandu to JFK International Airport.
Purna and Buddhi Maya Magar were welcomed by Nathaniel Dunstan of the resettlement agency and member of the Bhutanese American Community Center (BACC) in Oakland Intl. Airport at 11.00 p.m.
”I was not expecting anyone in the airport such a late night. We were feeling out of place”; said Purna. He expressed his gratitude to BACC and Dunstan for their warm welcome with dinner at Thapa’s residence.
The Chairman of the Bhutanese American Community Center, (BACC) California B. B Thapa appreciates the help and support that these people are receiving from different local organizations in different states in the US. He further appeals them for their continued support to the new comers. (Contributed by Lalit Gurung for Bhutan News Service)