Bhutanese refugees headed our way
Posted by Ann Corcoran on November 6, 2007
Traveling in Asia in the last week, Asst. Sec. of State Ellen Sauerbrey announced that Bhutanese refugees living in United Nations camps in Nepal would soon be resettled in western countries. The United States will take the largest number—60,000. The Nepali-speaking Bhutanese were, according to various reports, driven from their homes by “racist” persecution (not by war).
The process for large scale third country resettlement of Bhutanese refugees living in eastern Nepal has begun with the mass information campaign in all the camps, UNHCR today said.
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The campaign is aimed at assisting the refugees to make an informed decision by providing them with accurate information, the UN refugee agency said.
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This follows the decision of the Nepal government to allow those refugees who wish to opt for third country resettlement as an alternative solution to do so on the basis of an informed choice and acceptance by the resettlement country.
We reported way back in July that many of those living in camps did not want to leave, holding onto hope that they would be allowed to return someday to a country known as the “last Shangri-La”. The mostly Hindu refugees may be in for a real shock when they are resettled in crime-ridden neighborhoods in America.
I guess the United Nations will convince them that working the 12- hour shift at meat-packing plants or mattress factories dispersed throughout America will be better than the wish of many to stay together in Nepal and wait for the easterly wind to bring the smell of their soil.
The first of thousands are expected to arrive here in January 2008.
8 Responses to “Bhutanese refugees headed our way”
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Who resettled Karnamaya Mongar? « Refugee Resettlement Watch said
[...] resettlement plan was approved by Ellen Sauerbrey, Asst. Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration in the Bush Administration. We [...]
Phoenix, AZ: Bhutanese refugee commits suicide « Refugee Resettlement Watch said
[...] refugees over a 5 year period (see Bush Secretary of State, Ellen Sauerbrey’s announcement here in 2007). In FY2008 we admitted 5,320, FY2009 – 13,452, and in FY2010 which ended on [...]
Did George Bush consider taking 100,000 Palestinians? « Refugee Resettlement Watch said
[...] answer me this? How could a lowly Asst. Secretary of State (Ellen Sauerbrey) make the committment to take 60,000 (a specific number) Bhutanese refugees without going to Congress? Bottomline, she did it and it can be [...]
Tens of thousands of Bhutanese transition to the US « Refugee Resettlement Watch said
[...] exodus to the US was launched in 2007 by former (Bush Administration) Asst. Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration [...]
A reader updates us on Bhutanese refugee numbers—22,600 to US so far « Refugee Resettlement Watch said
[...] background, readers may wish to return to this post about how former Republican gubernatorial candidate Ellen Sauerbrey, while head of the State [...]
Where are all the Bhutanese coming from? « Refugee Resettlement Watch said
[...] NGO’s told our US State Department (Ellen Sauerbrey at the time) to jump and we did. The US has promised to take 60,000 Bhutanese (really Nepalese) over the next 5 [...]
Bhutanese Maoist threatens more violence toward refugees « Refugee Resettlement Watch said
[...] the government of Bhutan (Shangri La) and they need numbers. They won’t have numbers if 60,000 refugees head to the US over the next five [...]
Sorting out the Bhutanese refugee situation, kind of « Refugee Resettlement Watch said
[...] 21, 2008 Last year, then Asst. Secretary of State Ellen Sauerbrey traveled to camps in Nepal and announced that the US government had agreed to take 60,000 ethnic Nepalese who had been pushed out of [...]