The United States has expressed its readiness to take in upto 60,000 Bhutanese refugees stranded in eastern Nepal for last 16 years, local media reported on Thursday.

"We can take in 50,000-60,000 refugees within the next 3-4 years," Kantipur daily reported, referring to the statement of Ellen Sauerbrey, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for refugee affairs, made to the international media.

"Canada and Australia have also indicated their willingness to resettle some refugees from about 105,000 in their countries too," Sauerbrey said. She is currently in Geneva to attend a conference of the UN refugee agency.

However, refugee leaders have termed the U.S. statement " unclear" and stressed that Nepal should make it clear formally at first.

Bal Ram Paudel, leader of Bhutan People's Party said that the U. S. statement might have come to push the refugee issue into shadow.

Another refugee leader D.P. Kafle said the influential countries should help them to return to their own homeland.

As 15 rounds of bilateral talks between Nepal and Bhutan on refugees could not yield any result, the UN refugee agency has also been advocating for third country settlement of refugees in the recent years.

Source: Xinhua