US Ambassador to Nepal: No cap on the number of Bhutanese to be resettled in the US

Just a reminder readers, the Bhutanese are really of Nepali origin.  When they were banished from Bhutan, the Nepal government did not let them simply come home and reenter the country of their original heritage.  They have been living in refugee camps for nearly two decades.  The Bush Administration agreed to take 60,000 over a five year period, but it looks like there is no end in sight, making this one of the largest refugee relocations in the world.

From Nepal News:

US ambassador to Nepal, Scott H DeLisi, has revealed that there is no fixed quota for the American government for the resettlement of Bhutanese refugees from Nepal.

“Initially, we proposed for 60,000 refugees for resettlement in our country,” DeLisi informed while addressing a programme at the transit camp run by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Monday. “However, there is no cap for the number of refugees to be resettled.”

According to DeLisi, who is himself a grand-son of a immigrant, the US government will keep on accepting refugees as long as they express their desire for relocation

As the UN refugee agency prepares to mark its 60th anniversary this Tuesday globally, it announced that the resettlement of refugees from Bhutan in Nepal has reached a major milestone today with the departure of 40,000 refugees to various eight resettlement countries.

Of the 40,000 the US has taken over 34,000 so far.

To date, some 72,733 refugees from Bhutan still remain in various UN-monitored seven camps in Jhapa and Mornag districts. Of this, 55,000 are expected to depart from Nepal for relocation in the next four years.

Another 55,000 to go!  Just helping out our friends in Nepal, at the UN and in the meatpacking industry.

Note: When you visit the Nepal News link (above), you will see there is a little news clip most of which you won’t understand, but check out the US ambassador with his apparently captive refugee audience—the poor people, looking thoroughly unhappy, appear to have been bused in to be props at a press conference.

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