The United States of America has now resettled 60,000 Bhutanese refugees from Nepal who fled the Himalayan country in the early 1990s.

"The 60,000th Bhutanese refugee departed to the US from Nepal yesterday, September 4, 2012," said a US Embassy statement. "She is a 28-year-old woman with a husband and a young daughter." The family will start a new life in Columbus, Ohio.

In 2007, under the third country resettlement scheme, the US announced that it would accept 60,000 of the 107,000 refugees, who had migrated to eastern Nepal after the Bhutanese government began repressing citizens of Nepali origin. 

The US, in close coordination with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), subsequently began resettling Bhutanese refugees.

Other countries participating in this resettlement programme--Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand and the United Kingdom--have collectively resettled another 11,000 individuals. The US has further committed to considering for resettlement as many Bhutanese refugees as express interest.

Published on: 6 September 2012 | The Kathmandu Post