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Bhutan News Service

Bhutan News Service

Over 40,000 exiled Bhutanese resettled in US as resettlement crosses 48,000 mark

Posted: 18 Jul 2011 12:32 PM PDT

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said a total of 48,763 exiled Bhutanese have already left Nepal for various western countries under the third country resettlement programme as of July second week.

 

File photo: Three stars of resettlement : From left, chief of IOM at Damak David Derthick, Envoy DeLisi and UNHCR Nepal's representative Stephane Jaquemet/Vidhyapati Mishra

Of this, 40,971 refugees have been resettled in various states of United States of America followed by 3,215 in Canada.

Meanwhile, resettlement statistics of other countries included Australia (2,720), New Zealand (563), Denmark (483), Norway (372), Netherlands (228) and United Kingdom (111), informed a source at the UNHCR.

Meanwhile, a highly placed source has revealed to the Bhutan News Service that Denmark, which earlier proposed to accept just 500 refugees for resettlement, is learnt to make preparation to take another 500.

UNHCR estimates that the population of camps would remain somewhere close to 10,000 by the mid-2015. Now, there are around 64,311 exiled Bhutanese in various six camps of Jhapa and Morang.

Indian Gorkhas celebrate autonomy as talks end in tripartite pact

Posted: 18 Jul 2011 12:03 PM PDT

A tripartite agreement was signed on Monday for Gorkhaland Territorial Administration in Darjeeling. At 2.45 pm Union Home MInister, P Chidambaram, Chief MInister Mamata Banerjee and Gorkha Janamukti Morcha president, Bimal Gurung, arrived at Pintail village in Darjeeling district.

The pandal erected had a seating capacity of one thousand. Gurung offered 4000 packets of Darjeeling tea to the Home MInister and the West Bengal Chief Minister.

The memorandum of agreement was signed at 3.35 pm. Then the 45 minute programme ended at 3.45 pm and Home Minister P Chidambaram left for Delhi.

The signing-ceremony : GJM's Roshan Giri and joint secretary, West Bengal home secretary G D Gautama and MHA, K K Pathak (R-L)/Picture courtesy : Darjeelingtimes

Thousands of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) supporters gathered at the Pintal Village, near Sukna, to witness and celebrate the signing of the tripartite agreement for the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.

Clad in traditional dresses, the supporters including women gathered under the tents erected on the sprawling ground near the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council bungalow amidst tight security.

Activists of the GJM women’s wing, Gorkha Nari Morcha, took to the stage, dancing and singing to celebrate the occasion.

Many of the supporters were heard shouting slogans like, ‘Mamata Banerjee zindabad,’ and ‘Bimal Gurung zindabad,’ while shouts of ‘we want Gorkhaland,’ ‘we want a separate state,’ were also heard.

“This is a turning point in our movement and not a permanent settlement. This is only a temporary settlement to address the basic problem. The separate state issue must not be a closed chapter,” P Arjun, a member of the GJM think tank 16-member Study Forum, told PTI.

Describing the signing of the agreement as the result of a reciprocal attitude on both sides, Arjun, a former member of the West Bengal Civil Service, said, “this attitude, which is demonstrated by Mamata Banerjee, was not displayed by the previous Left Front government in finding out a solution.”

Arjun said GJM president Bimal Gurung would not hold any position in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.

A section of the Gorkha people, however, said it would have been better if the agreement was signed after demarcation of the boundaries of the GTA.

The GJM has been demanding inclusion of the Gorkha-dominated areas of the Dooars and Terai under the GTA.

Courtesy : Darjeelingtimes