Nepal, June 20 -- As relieving as it is for us to have found a new home through the third country resettlement of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal, it has left many in lasting pain due to separation from their family members. My own family was torn apart during the resettlement process. In 2018, I had to make one of the hardest decisions in my life: Choose between visiting my family somewhere on the Indo-Bhutan border or continue to keep my local government job in the US. I am a naturalised American citizen, but the government of Bhutan wouldn't allow me to meet them in my family home in Bhutan.

When a deal was made for the third-country resettlement of over 100,000 Bhutanese refugees and officially announced in 2007, many expressed scepticis...