US official officially seeks application for resettlement

Goldhap, November 02: The US assistant secretary Ellen Sauerbrey in her visit to camps in Jhapa, where the exiled Bhutanese have been living for the last 17 years, has officially urged the exiled Bhutanese to apply for resettlement in the US.

BNS manager Vidhyapati Mishra, who reached Beldangi and Goldhap camp along with the team of UNHCR and the US official team quoted US official as saying that the process for resettlement would begin in the next two weeks.

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 one the situation normalizes.

Allen further told the exiled Bhutanese would not have to live as refugee in the US rather can enjoy all facilities that US citizens have been. She urged the exiled Bhutanese to tap this opportunity since it will end their hard life in Nepal camps.

She also informed that at least 15,000 exiled Bhutanese will be flown to the US within next one year and the process would further accelerate in coming years.

Ellen also mentioned that the US government would continue putting pressures on the Bhutanese and Indian governments for guaranteeing the repatriation of those not willing to resettle or those who want to return Bhutan even after resettlement.

In his last visit to camps before leaving Nepal completing his tenure here, country representative of the UNHCR for Nepal Abraham Abraham urged the exiled Bhutanese to file application at the office of the International Organization of Migration (IOM) established at Damak.

Chief of the IOM for Nepal David has also reached the camps and was answering the questions raised by the exiled Bhutanese regarding resettlement while this report was filed.

Chief district officer of Jhapa said the Nepal government has formally decided to allow the resettlement of the exiled Bhutanese to western countries.

Ellen and the team also visited the Beldangi camp earlier where she received appeal from the camp secretaries who requested the US official to seek early solution of the crisis.

Sauerbrey is in 12-day tour to Nepal, India and Bhutan in an effort to begin the resettlement of over 60,000 exiled Bhutanese in the US over the next few years. Bhutan News Service