UNHCR to provide cash support to fire victims

Goldhap, March 03: UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres has announced immediate relief packages with cash amount to exiled Bhutanese in Goldhap camp.

A statement issued by Guterres mentions that the agency is urgently mobilising all resources, with the help from the government, to get shelter, food and comfort got the exiled Bhutanese in the camp.

He further said, "This is a disaster and an absolutely traumatic event for the exiled Bhutanese.”

UNHCR estimates 7,000 of the 9,000 exiled Bhutanese are displaced in Goldhap camp due to fire and are now homeless. According to latest police report, 1284 out of 1,512 huts in the camp survived the fire.  UNHCR said cause of the fire is under investigation.

“It is a huge relief that despite the severity of the blaze, no lives were lost and those who were injured have now been released from hospital,” said Guterres. “What is incredibly precious to the exiled Bhutanese are their personal belongings and documents proving their identity,” he added.

Immediate emergency assistance from UNHCR, the Nepalese government and non-governmental organizations is now pouring into the area to help the refugees. Local residents living near the camp have also been very supportive, providing emergency shelter and food.

Guterres praised the rapidity and level of response from the government and aid organizations in responding to the disaster. An emergency committee has been set up by the local authorities to coordinate assistance and investigate the cause of the fire.

The government and Nepali Red Cross Society will distribute emergency food packages and plastic sheeting and build emergency communal shelters.

UNHCR will provide cash grants to the displaced Bhutanese to help them reconstruct their huts. Other aid organizations, some with financial assistance from UNHCR, are providing emergency sanitation, cooking kits and tarpaulins for shelter. The World Food Program will replenish stocks of food destroyed in the fire. Another aid organization has already delivered immediate food supplies to the exiled Bhutanese.

Meanwhile, the district committee of Nepal government's natural disaster relief trust distributed Rs 500 each to 1,170 families as immediate support. Similarly, a Nepalese citizen Narayan Shrestha, currently residing in the USA lent Rs 50,000 to support the fire victims. Bhutan News Service