The US government is planning expedite the process of resettling Bhutanese refugees in the US in December, two US officials visiting the refugee camps said Wednesday.
Deputy director at the US foreign ministry Lawrence Wartlet and registration assistant Janice Belz visited the refugee camps at Beldangi of Damak district and the Goldhap camp in Jhapa district and informed the refugees about the latter's resettlement in the US.
Speaking at an interaction organised in the Beldangi camp, Belz said offices will be established in Damak and Kathmandu in three months to initiate the refugee resettlement process. She added that the refugees will be provided with training in language and vocational skills once the offices are established.
The US officials added that the process of resettlement of Bhutanese refugees in the US will last till 2011. "Those refugees willing to resettle in the US will be taken there phase-wise," Belz said. Refugees will be provided jobs in the US as per their qualifications and skills, she added.
Those refugees, who resettle in the US, will be able to apply for permanent residency after three years and will also be allowed to go to other countries if they so desire, the US officials said.
Bhutanese refugees informed the US officials that they did not want to remain stateless any longer.
The refugees have submitted their applications to the United Nations' High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Nepal government demanding third-country resettlement ever since the US offered to accommodate 60,000 Bhutanese refugees there. However, a few refugees are continuing their agitation, demanding repatriation into Bhutan.
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