IOM has now helped over 40,000 ethnic Nepali Bhutanese refugees to
leave camps in Eastern Nepal and resettle in third countries.

Under the joint UNHCR-IOM resettlement programme, which was
launched at the beginning of 2008, the United States has accepted
34,129 of the refugees, Canada 2,333, Australia 2,168, New Zealand
498, Norway 273, Denmark 326, the Netherlands 229 and the United
Kingdom 111.

The resettled refugees represent over a third of a caseload of
some 108,000 Bhutanese of Nepali origin who fled Bhutan in the late
1980s and early 1990s, following the country's decision to revoke
their citizenship.

The refugees, known as "Lhotsampas", found refuge in seven camps
established in Jhapa and Morang districts in eastern Nepal. The
camps are still home to some 72,733 refugees, of whom some 55,000
have expressed an interest in resettlement and are expected to
leave Nepal in the next four years.

Under the resettlement programme, UNHCR interviews refugees who
express an interest in resettlement and refers their cases to
resettlement countries.

IOM is responsible for preparing files on each case, and for
providing health assessments, cultural orientation and
transportation of the refugees from the camps to their final
destination in resettlement countries.

The resettlement programme is based in Damak, the Nepali town
closest to the camps.

For more  information please contact:

Jennifer Pro at IOM Damak

Tel: +977-23-585-201

E-mail: "mailto:jpro@iom.int">jpro@iom.int