The number of Bhutanese refugees resettled in third countries has passed the 40,000 mark, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Monday, DPA reported.
Devi Maya Gurung, 38 was named the 40,000th refugee to be resettled from Nepal shortly before he boarded a plane at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport to start a new life with her family in the United States, a UNHCR press release said.
"I was confused about my future when we first applied for resettlement," said Devi Maya, who had been living in the Belgangi refugee camp in eastern Nepal since 1992.
"I hope my family will get a better life in the United States," said Dhan Kumar Ghataney, another of the refugees who left with his family on Monday.
More than 70,000 Bhutanese refugees are living in UN-supervised camps in Jhapa, 500 kilometres east of the capital Kathmandu. They are among more than 100,000 Bhutanese of Hindu origin who were evicted from Bhutan in 1990s.
Bhutanese refugees are being resettled in eight western countries under a programme launched in 2007. The United States is the biggest recipient, having resettled more than 34,000 refugees so far. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Britain are the others receiving them.
Relations between Nepal and Bhutan have been strained over the refugee issue. Several rounds of talks over the repatriation of the refugees have failed to make headway.
Number of Bhutanese refugees leaving Nepal passes 40,000
The number of Bhutanese refugees resettled in third countries has passed the 40,000 mark, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Monday
