But, the UN still has 8,500 more to go to completely clean out their camps in Nepal.
The other day I mentioned that the US under Obama committed to helping the UN clean out some of its African camps of the people from the DR Congo and I predicted the resettlement would go way beyond the 50,000 (over 5 years).
After all, the US State Department has a track record….
New readers may not know that in 2006, the Bush Administration said, oh sure, we will take 60,000 over 5 years of the displaced ‘Bhutanese’ (really people of Nepali origin) living in UN camps in Nepal.
Never mind that we had no strategic interest and no responsibility for the Bhutan/Nepal quarrel.
The mostly Hindu ‘Bhutanese’ ended up in camps in Nepal when the country of Bhutan said they wanted only their people in their country (formerly known as Shangri-La). Nepal refused to take in its people flooding out of Bhutan causing the UN to build camps.
So, I presume looking for more docile third world workers, George W. Bush said sure!
We were only supposed to take 60,000 over five years. But guess what?
We are now up to 94,473 (2,000 more are being processed) in nearly ten years!
I’m telling you, once the spigot opens, closing it becomes almost impossible! Just look at the Somalis who we have been admitting for 30 years!
From Kathmandu Post:
Nov 19, 2017-As the decade-long third country resettlement programme of the Bhutanese refugees living in eastern Nepal draws to a close, the fate of the those still in the camps hangs in the balance.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) and the UN refugee agency in Kathmandu confirmed that the third country resettlement scheme is closing down after the last batch of refugees leaves by the end of December.
Currently there are around 8,500 refugees in the camps in Jhapa district but both sides—Nepal government and the UNHCR—have yet to find alternatives for them.
There was pressure on Nepal government to locally assimilate the refugees in Nepal, but Kathmandu has been constantly saying that these refugees should be repatriated to Bhutan.
[….]
Nearly nine out of 10 Bhutanese refugees (90 percent) have been resettled since the launch of the third country resettlement programme in 2007, with nearly 111,000 refugees resettled in eight different countries. “Globally, far less than 1 percent of refugees are resettled. Thus, the resettlement programme for Bhutanese refugees in Nepal is truly exceptional,” the office said. The UNHCR, together with the international community, is working closely with the government of Nepal to find solutions for the remaining refugees, the UNHCR added. According to the UN office, with nearly 111,000 refugees resettled in third countries and only 8,500 of them remaining in Nepal, the opportunities to achieve durable solutions at this juncture are great.
[In 2006 we were told there were 100,000 that needed to be spread around the world, but see now they are up to nearly 120,000. Where did the extra 20,000 come from? Wandering in from the neighborhood?—ed]
[….]
Quick facts
Approximately 120,000 Bhutanese fled from their country and arrived in Nepal to become refugees from Bhutan in the early 1990s
They were lodged in several camps in Jhapa in eastern Nepal
The third country resettlement programme was launched in 2007
In the last one decade, nearly 111,000 refugees from Bhutan have been settled in various western countries, with the US alone receiving more than 90,000 of them
Nearly 2,000 refugees are currently undergoing screening process under the third country resettlement programme
The UN refugee agency says it is set to close down the third-country resettlement programme by early next
The last batch is likely to leave in December after which an estimated 8,500 Bhutanese refugees will remain in Nepal
For my extensive file on the Bhutanese resettlement to America, click here. You will see in early posts how hard the people fought to NOT be distributed around the world.
And, if you want to know how many your state ‘welcomed’ here is a map today at Wrapsnet.
