Five exiled Bhutanese reach Washington (Resettlement)

Washington DC, June 24: A family of five exiled Bhutanese reached Everett in Washington last week under third country resettlement program and more is expected to arrive soon.

According to Jan Stephens, director of this region's resettlement program for Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, the population will rise to 10 with more arrivals by Wednesday.

Stephens' organization is expected to pick up another family of five from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

In the next few months, the number would rise.  There are so few people of Bhutanese descent in the US that the federal census doesn't offer them a category.

US government has not said anything about the number of exiled Bhutanese, out of 60,000 it agreed to resettle, will be placed in Everett. The city has large Iraqi, Russian and Ukrainian refugee communities, as well as growing communities of African refugees.

Local newspapers say in one major way, the exiled Bhutanese don't fit the stereotype of third-world arrivals: most speak English, because of which Stephens hopes that will make a big difference in their immediate success here.

The family is living in northeast Everett. They have been given $450 per person to pay for their first month at a non-subsidized apartment.

The father enrolled in a welding training program at Everett Community College on Monday, said Van Dinh Kuno, director of the Snohomish County Refugee and Immigrant Forum, which helps families enroll in classes and find jobs.

They are so eager to learn. They're willing to do anything. Bhutan News Service