Burmese arrive in Mayo

FAMILIES from war-torn Burma were beginning a new life in Co Mayo yesterday under a special UN refugee resettlement programme.

A group of 50 men, women and children have come from an isolated refugee camp on Burma’s border with Thailand.

A further 45 people will arrive in Ireland in mid-November.

The group will be accommodated in a training centre in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, to prepare them for permanent resettlement in Castlebar.

The refugees were referred to the Government’s resettlement programme by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Ireland is one of six European countries that participate in the initiative.

“Resettlement is considered only as a last resort when all other options for these people have been considered,” said a spokesman for the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

“Following arrival in Ireland, the group, consisting of 10 families, will initially be accommodated in an orientation training centre in Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, where they will receive training to prepare them for independent living in preparation for permanent resettlement in Castlebar, Co Mayo.”

Last year 180 Iranian Kurds arrived from a refugee camp in Jordan and were resettled in Sligo, Carrick-on-Shannon and Mullingar.

A total of 29,560 refugees were resettled in 15 countries worldwide under UNHCR-sponsored programmes.