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Over 5000 refugees resettled, mix marriages not to qualify

Over 5,000 Bhutanese refugees have left their camps in Nepal to resettle in third countries this year, in one of the United Nations refugee agency's largest and most promising resettlement programmes, UNHCR said.

The vast majority of the refugees have left for the United States, followed by Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Canada and Denmark, under the programme.

Over 50,000 Bhutanese refugees have expressed interest in resettlement – just under half of the total 107,000 refugees from Bhutan who live in seven camps in eastern Nepal, The UN refugee agency said.

"Some of them have been in exile for as long as 17 years," UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler told a news conference in Geneva Tuesday.

Regular meetings have been held with the refugees to discuss resettlement and other durable solutions, as well as provide information for women at risk or people with disabilities.

"Refugees are being offered English classes as well as additional vocational and skill-based training to prepare for a life in a new country," Spindler added.

While another 2,000 to 3,000 refugees are expected to leave Nepal for third countries by the end of this year, UNHCR "continues to advocate for the option of voluntary return to Bhutan for those refugees who wish to do so, and hopes that talks on repatriation can restart soon," he further said.

UNHCR attributes the success of the programme to close cooperation with the Nepal government, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the resettlement countries.

US and other European countries have expressed commitments to resettle over 80,000 refugees. The resettlement began early this year.

In the meantime, a resettlement bulletin regularly published by UNHCR said mix marriages between refugees and Nepalis or Indians would not qualify for resettlement.

Of late Bhutanese refugee youths have become most sought for marriages before getting resettled. Recent media reports said at least 113 such mix marriages have taken place in the last six months. nepalnews.com ia Sep 24 08