US reaches its resettlement quota for this year

The resettlement to United States for the year 2013 is likely to be stopped with the US reaching its quota of annual resettlement.

According to the statement issued by State Department on October 21, the country brought 69,930 refugees to safety and new lives in the United States in fiscal year 2013.

That number is closer to the authorised ceiling – 70,000 in 2013 – than in any year since 1980.

The statement does not mention anything about giving more humanitarian visa this year but mentions the Obama Administration is committed to maintaining a strong refugee admissions program as an integral component of our effort to offer protection to some of the world’s most vulnerable people. “Their presence makes our country more diverse, our culture richer, and our national character stronger,” the statement reads.

The resettlement would continue next year as the president has already authorised the admission of up to 70,000 refugees from around the world for that year. The statement mentions Bhutanese would be resettled in 2014.

The top five nationalities resettled to the United States in 2013 were Iraqi, Burmese, Bhutanese, Somali, and Cuban.

Recently over a dozen Bhutanese were taken back to camps from transit centre in Kathmandu but was thought to be due to government shut down.