US asks Bhutan to take back refugees; Nancy Powell to replace Moriarty

While the US government has said the process for resettling the Bhutanese refugees in third countries has begun, US ambassador to India Dr. David C. Mulford has asked the Bhutanese government to repatriate the refugees languishing in Nepal, who might not qualify for resettlement in the US or elsewhere.

According to the website of state-owned Kuensel newspaper, Mulford mentioned that the US had agreed to take in a large number of refugees but it would be not a quick and easy process. “We do hope that Bhutan makes a symbolic move to take in some of them in time to come," the ambassador said at the end of his three-day visit to Bhutan on Wednesday.

The news report also quoted Bhutanese Prime Minister Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk as appreciating the US efforts to resettle the refugees into the US.

"We had useful exchange of views and during our meeting, ambassador Mulford reiterated their decision to resettle in the United States a large number of people from the camps in Nepal and I expressed our deep appreciation of their decision to resettle the people," Wangchuk said.

The US and Bhutan do not share diplomatic relations. Bhutan had earlier announced that it would not maintain diplomatic relations with the permanent members of the United Nations. The US mission in New Delhi looks after the Bhutan affairs.

US government has said it is ready to resettle at least 60,000 Bhutanese refugees while some European countries and Australia have also shown interest to take in refugees. The US government plans to start the resettlement process by early July and has already appointed officials in its embassy in Kathmandu to start the process.

Meanwhile, the US government has proposed Nancy J. Powell for the ambassador to Nepal. Nancy, who will replace ambassador James F. Moriarty whose tenure expires on July 15, has been working as Nepal Desk officer and Refugee Assistant Officer in Washington. Powell who had earlier worked in US mission in Nepal is well-versed in Nepali, French and Urdu. nepalnews.com ia Apr 18 07