37 Bhutanese refugees leave for UK

KATHMANDU, Aug 9: Bishnu Kanta Ghimire has always dreamt of a day when he would no more have to languish in the refugee camp and would get to start a life afresh somewhere else with his eight-member family.

The long-cherished dream of Ghimire, 55, came to a reality after an 18-year wait at Beldangi camp, Jhapa as a group of Bhutanese refugees left for the UK on Monday as part of the third-country resettlement.[break]

"Finally the desire has come true," said Ghimire, who was preparing to leave for the UK at the IOM (International Organization for Migration) Transit Center in Maharajgunj. "But I have both fear and happiness in my mind now."

Ghimire is among the 37 Bhutanese refugees who were welcomed by the UK government as part of its Gateway Protection Program operated by the UK Border Agency in partnership with the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"I was forced to abandon all my posessions including the house, cattle and other properties in Dagabela, Bhutan and flee the country for life back in 1992," said Ghimire, who is accompanied by four sons and two of his three daughters. "I do not know what is there in store for me."

Ghimire speaks to Republica

With this first intake of Bhutanese refugees, the UK has joined the Core Group -- now a group of eight countries -- that has offered to give new homes to 108,000-plus refugees languishing in seven camps in eastern Nepal. Seven other countries including the US, Australia, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, Denmark and the Netherlands have already started taking in the refugees.

The 37 refugees belonging to 10 families, who fled ethnic tension in Bhutan in early 1990s, will be taken to Manchester for the resettlement. The UK´s Home Office will provide homes, teach English language and other life skills to help them acclimatize there. The refugees will be provided all necessary assistance till they are able to make their living on their own.

Officials at the UK embassy in Nepal said they plan to take a total of 100 Bhutanese refugees this year to the UK.

At a function organized at the transit center in Maharajgunj before their departure to the UK, British charge d´affaires, Sophia Willittss-King, welcomed them to live in the UK. "It is heartening to meet the refugees about to leave for the UK to start new lives after so many years of uncertainty," she said. "I´m confidant that they will integrate well into their new host community and I wish them every success in the UK."

Speaking on the occasion, Stephane Jaquemet, UNHCR Representative in Nepal, thanked the UK government for the assistance. "We are extremely grateful to the government of UK for this offer and appreciate the speed of the response by the UK government -- with this first group of refugees departing only some eight months after the offer was made," he said.

Altogether 56,400 out of the 77,616 Bhutanese refugees currently living in seven camps have expressed desire to join the third country resettlement program. According to latest figures, the US has so far taken in 29,496, Canada 1,877, Australia 1,787, New Zealand 461, Norway 335, Denmark 326 and the Netherlands 224 Bhutanese refugees.