Six-year-old Yagandra Kami flew to Pennsylvania in the United States on Wednesday, becoming the 75,000th Bhutanese refugee living in Nepal to be resettled in a third-country, according to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Under a major resettlement programme launched by UNHCR and the IOM in November 2007, more than 63,400 refugees have setttled in the US. Other third countries that have accepted refugees include Australia (3,837), Canada (5,296), Denmark (724), New Zealand (710), the Netherlands (326), Norway (546), and the United Kingdom (257), according to a statement issued by the two organisations.

“Our efforts will continue unabated until the last refugee settles into his/her new life. The IOM is committed to nurturing the model partnership that has marked this programme from the start and is the basis of today’s results,” said Maurizio Busatti, chief of the IOM Mission in Nepal.

The UNHCR echoed Busatti’s statements. “This is a tremendous achievement,” said Stephane Jaquemet, UNHCR representative in Nepal. “It has only been possible due to the incredible generosity of the resettlement countries, the resilience of the refugees, the great support from the Nepal government and the exemplary partnership with the IOM.” The UNHCR is responsible for interviewing refugees while the IOM conducts health assessments, organises cultural orientation courses and transports the refugees from Nepal to their countries of resettlement.

With over half of the total refugee population resettled, the seven erstwhile refugee camps in eastern Nepal have merged into two at Sanischare and Beldangi. Amongst the over 41,000 remaining refugees in these camps, some 31,300 have expressed interest in resettlement.

The acceptance rate by resettlement countries is over 99 percent, the highest in the world, said the joint statement.

Published on: 13 December 2012 | The Kathmandu Post