Chetan Adhikari

Around 51,000 Bhutanese refugees have been resettled in eight countries under the third country resettlement programme, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The Jhapa-based UNHCR office said majority of the refugees—43,000—were resettled in the US. It said 3,341 have been resettled in Canada, 2,834 in Australia, 563 in New Zealand and 487 in Denmark. The UNHCR has started merging camps following the decline in the number of refugees. Goldap camp at Jhapa was merged with Beldangi camp three months ago, bringing down the number of camps to six.

Talking to reporters on Wednesday, UNHCR Nepal representative Stephane Jaquemet said that though some refugees opposed the programme in the beginning, more refugees have been opting for the resettlement programme now. Out of the 111,000 refugees, 96,000 want to be resettled in the third countries he said.

According to the UNHCR, 40,000 refugees are living in Beldangi, 9,100 in Khudunabari, 12,000 in Sanishchare and 6,100 in Timai.

Meanwhile, Jaquemet said that the UNHCR was not in a position to initiate repatriation of the refugees. "Despite frequent talks over repatriation of the refugees, Bhutan is not heeding our concerns," said Jaquemet, talking to media persons in the UNHCR's office in Damak.

He said the UNHCR was not under obligation to provide relief to those refugees who have not gone through the registration process. He said that the refugees seeking relief must register their names.

Published on: 18 August 2011 | The Kathmandu Post