Here we have the International Organization for Migration trumpeting that 11,000 refugees from Asia have been resettled (mostly in the US) in the first 4 months of 2010 (in the middle of the great recession). Jobless claims continue to rise.
From IOM:
Thailand – IOM’s major Asian refugee resettlement operations in Thailand, Malaysia and Nepal resettled nearly 11,000 refugees in the first four months of 2010 – over 80 per cent of them to new homes in the United States. [That means that 8800-9000 came to the US-ed].
Of the total, some 4,550 were Bhutanese from camps in eastern Nepal, 3,900 were Karen and Karenni refugees from Myanmar from camps in northwestern Thailand, and the remaining 2,400 were refugees from Myanmar living in Malaysia.
Over the period, IOM Nepal moved 3,830 Bhutanese refugees accepted for resettlement to the US, 374 to Australia, 239 to Canada, 108 to New Zealand, 7 to the Netherlands and 2 to Denmark.
Almost all them were Bhutanese of Nepali origin, known as Lhotsampas, who have lived in camps in the Jhapa and Morang regions of Nepal for nearly two decades, following Bhutan’s decision to revoke their citizenship and expel them in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
[…..]
While IOM plays no part in selecting which refugees* are accepted for resettlement, its global responsibilities in refugee resettlement include medical screening, pre-departure cultural orientation and travel arrangements.
*The United Nations picks most of our refugees.