Nepal issues exit permits for refugees from Bhutan

Source: UNHCR

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 1 February 2008, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

UNHCR welcomes Nepal's recent decision to issue exit permits to refugees from Bhutan who voluntarily opt for resettlement. This allows refugees to leave eastern Nepal's camps for third countries once their cases are accepted, and is an important step towards finding solutions for over 107,000 refugees who have been in Nepal for 17 years.

The group resettlement process has been gaining momentum in the camps since it started late last year. Thousands of refugees have expressed interest, and UNHCR has submitted the details of nearly 10,000 interested refugees for consideration by the resettlement countries. The refugees are currently in various stages of the process, ranging from interviews to extensive medical screening and cultural orientation before departure.

The international community is coordinating with the Nepalese government and expects that the first groups of refugees will begin to depart in March, with larger numbers leaving for resettlement countries starting in July.

The United States has offered to consider for resettlement at least 60,000 refugees from Bhutan, and Canada has indicated it will accept up to 5,000. Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway have also indicated their willingness to accept refugees from Bhutan for resettlement.

While resettlement offers a welcome solution for those who voluntarily choose this option after 17 years in the camps, the UN refugee agency will continue to advocate for the option of voluntary return to Bhutan for those refugees who wish to do so.

Since the refugees started arriving in Nepal in the early 1990s, UNHCR has invested more than US$1.7 million in the host areas. Refugees and local communities in eastern Nepal have benefited from more than 1,000 activities in the areas of health, education, infrastructure and capacity building.

Story date: 1 February 2008
UNHCR Briefing Notes

Core Group Hopes For Expedited Exit Permits For Refugees

Source: TheHimalayanTimes.com

US Envoy Nancy J Powell has hoped that the Nepal government would approve expedited exit permits for Bhutanese refugees. As the chairperson of the Core Group of Nations working closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in support of the refugees from Bhutan, Powell expressed her pleasure at the official opening on January 9, 2008 of the refugee resettlement processing center in Damak for the Bhutanese refugees, in a statement issued by the US embassy today. The center is operated by the International Organization for Migration.
The statement said tthat it is our hope that in 2008 more than 13,000 refugees will be resettled from Nepal. By the end of 2009, we hope that an additional 20,000 or more refugees who have chosen resettlement will be starting new lives in the United States, Australia, Canada, and elsewhere.

Each refugee is entitled to make his or her own choice, in an atmosphere free from threats and intimidation. We thank the Government of Nepal, through the efforts of the Nepal Police and Armed and Civilian Police for its work in improving the security and safety of the refugees in the camps. We know that many refugees in the camps remain concerned about their security and ask that the Government maintain its vigilance in this regard and vigorously pursue the perpetrators of violent acts against the residents of the camps, the statement said.

The Core Group nations – and other nations – have extended the offer of resettlement as a humanitarian durable solution for the refugees only after many years of attempts by the Governments of Nepal and Bhutan to negotiate a repatriation solution. The Core Group would like to emphasize that the offer of resettlement goes hand in hand with our continuing efforts to urge the Government of Bhutan to accept the return of the refugees. Repatriation and local integration are recognized by all of us as being equally desirable durable solutions, the statement added.

The core group of Nations also called upon the Government of Nepal to approve expedited exit permits for all refugees who are currently otherwise eligible for resettlement and to establish for future use a standardized process for the expeditious departure of refugees who wish to be resettled.