The US embassy in Kathmandu has said that a group of Maoist affiliated Young Communist League (YCL) cadres hurled stones on the vehicle carrying US ambassador James F. Moriarty in Damak Friday afternoon.

US ambassador to Nepal James F Moriarty (File photo)

US ambassador to Nepal James F Moriarty (File photo)
An embassy official told Nepalnews that the attack caused minor damage on the vehicles accompanying Moriarty. However, no one was injured in the incident that took place at around 1:30 p.m.

The incident took place at the field office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Damak where Moriarty had reached to inform refugees about the resettlement programme.

Moriarty, while talking to refugees in Jhapa, said the third country resettlement process would being from September and it would take at least six months to complete the process before travel to the US.

Moriarty said, “Resettlement in the US may not be the best option for every Bhutanese refugee, and only those who freely choose resettlement in the US will be considered.”

He further said his government and other donors will continue to advocate for the refugees’ right of return to their homeland even after they are resettled.

He also announced an additional assistance of US$2 million in-kind contribution to the World Food Program for Bhutanese refugees through the USAID Food for Peace (FFP) programme.

Under their current status, refugees are restricted from engaging in economic activities outside the camps and from owning land – making humanitarian assistance, like food aid from the donor communities critical to meeting their basic needs, the embassy statement reads.

He said, “The US offer is part of efforts by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Core Working Group of countries trying to find a durable solution to your situation. The Core Working Group includes Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and the United States.”

The group had issued a communiqué in May of this year calling on the governments of Nepal and Bhutan to find a comprehensive and sustainable solution to the refugee crisis.

Moriarty also informed that the US State Department selected the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as the Overseas Processing Entity (OPE) for the resettlement programme. Based in Kathmandu, IOM will conduct most processing activities in Jhapa.

The OPE Kathmandu office will start operation from July 2007 and begin processing the first refugees referred by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in September.