Bhutanese welcome new family to P.E.I.

The Island's Bhutanese community got a lot biggerthis week when it welcomed a family of 18 refugees.

There are about 80 Bhutanese refugees settled on P.E.I. now, part of a group of about 1,000 that have settled in Canada in the last few years. The Bhutanese had been among 80,000 stuck in a refugee camp in Nepal for 20 years.

Many of P.E.I.'s Bhutanese turned out at the airport Tuesday night to greet the Behadur family.

"I think they felt like they're in safe place now. I think they felt like home here," said Parshu Giri.

Madan Giri was one of the first refugees to arrive on the Island, in 2007. He said the camps were no place to raise a family.

"We were not allowed to go outside of the refugee camp and work and make money," said Giri.

"We were treated as stateless people, and we were not given any kind of rights."

The new family is being sponsored by the P.E.I. Association for Newcomers to Canada. It will help them find accommodation, get the documentation they need health cards, social insurance numbers and to adjust to the many new things they will encounter in Canada.

"They would have limited understanding of just the household technology that you and I would take for granted, things like fridges and stoves and dishwashers," said executive director Craig Mackie.

"Also things like how to get along in a Canadian grocery store."

For the first year the federal government will pay for the family's living expenses, as well as English classes. Giri said he is optimistic about the Behadurs' prospects.

"Almost all of us in our families are studying, working, and we are definitely making our life better here on the Island," he said.

The Behadurs said with the Newcomers Association and the Bhutanese community to help them they're not worried about adjusting to life in Canada.