Resettlement Support Center (RSC), South Asia

The Resettlement Support Center (RSC), South Asia is operated by the IOM with the main office in Damak, Nepal. RSC South Asia conducts resettlement processing for the United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) in five countries throughout the South Asia region: Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The RSC began in 2007 in Damak, Nepal with the Bhutanese caseload and has since expanded to other countries. Funded by the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM), RSC South Asia assists refugees with the many steps involved in the resettlement process to the United States including receiving cases from the UNHCR, interviewing and counselling refugees, managing data entry, overseeing security checks, supporting US Citizen and Immigration Officers during adjudication, coordinating with US agencies on US placement, working with the GoN, Exit Permit Officers, and conducting Cultural Orientation classes. All refugees approved to travel to the US undergo five days of Cultural Orientation by the RSC team to help them prepare for life in America. Topics covered include hygiene, transportation to and in America, the importance of getting a job and going to school, as well as how to cope with cultural adjustments. The RSC regularly coordinates with the GoN to conduct exit permit formalities at the IOM Damak Sub-Office for all Bhutanese departing Nepal. The IOM provides housing and transport for the officials during their stay for granting exit permission for Bhutanese refugees being resettled.

Since 2007 through February 2018, the RSC has helped facilitate over 103,209 refugees to the US, of which 95,758 have been Bhutanese from Eastern Nepal.  Other populations include Burmese and Pakistanis from Sri Lanka and India, and Afghanis from Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India.