Nepal 2012 UNHCR country operations profile - Nepal Working environment The context Nepal hosts a large number of refugees and asylum-seekers, mainly from Bhutan, although their numbers have steadily decreased in recent years as a result of the resettlement programme. With the support of the Government of Nepal and the international community, UNHCR protects, assists and seeks durable solutions for all refugees in the country. Thanks to the generous support of the Core Group of resettlement countries -- Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States -- and the cooperation of the Government of Nepal and IOM, more than 50,000 refugees from Bhutan have now left Nepal to start new lives in these countries. At the end of 2010, the Government of Nepal approved UNHCR's proposal for the gradual consolidation of refugee camps. The camp consolidation process is expected to be completed by end of 2012. With the agreement of the Government of Nepal to start designing a programme benefiting both host communities and refugees, UNHCR has submitted a revised appeal document of a five-year Community Based Development Programme/Transitional Solutions Initiative (CBDP/TSI) to the Government. This provides a comprehensive strategy to facilitate the transition from humanitarian assistance to sustainable development in the refugee-hosting and impacted areas, pending voluntary repatriation of the refugees to Bhutan. While Nepal has generously hosted thousands of refugees from Bhutan and other countries for several decades, it is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention of 1951 or its