At a time when one of the world’s largest resettlement programs has attained its climax, the United States of America said it received the 50,000th exiled Bhutanese from Nepal on Monday.
The number of Bhutanese refugees leaving for the United States as part of the ongoing third country resettlement reached 50,000 on Monday, said a statement issued by the US embassy from Kathmandu.
Together with 9,000 others already relocated to various Core Group countries, the number of Bhutanese refugees resettled has reached 59,000, according to the statement.
“We are grateful to our international partners, most notably the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), for their ongoing protection of this vulnerable population, whether they resettle or not,” said the embassy.
Meanwhile, the statement further said that the US is committed to accepting as many of the Bhutanese refugees whom UNHCR refers to for consideration in Nepal and who meet the requirements of US law for refugee admission.
The Bhutanese resettlement program is currently the second-largest resettlement program for the United States.
Bhutanese refugees, who have resettled in nearly all 50 States, receive employment and educational support from the US federal and state governments as well as non-governmental organizations to begin anew as productive, engaged residents, it added.
