Bhutanese refugees want action to resolve stalemate

Bhutanese refugees in Nepal are organising an indefinite protest in the capital, Kathmandu, to push for talks with Bhutan’s government. They want the United Nations and the Nepalese government to facilitate the talks. The refugees have been organising the protest in front of the UN’s main office complex in Kathmandu for more than a month. “We handed over our memorandum on 5 June and the UN had promised to respond in 21 days but we have heard nothing from their officials,” said Tek Nath Rijal, one of the refugees’ leaders and head of the Human Rights Council of Bhutan (HRCB). Narbahadur Rai, 37, who has been living as a refugee in Nepal for the past 16 years, said there was still hope that they could return to their homes. “If we have to die waiting for help from the UN and Nepalese government, we will do so.” The office for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) confirmed that it was supporting the refugees and was committed to assisting them. “Bhutanese refugees need to understand that UNHCR is fully behind them. The UNHCR and international community and the UN are ready to offer whatever technical, political or financial support is necessary in order to find a solution,” said Abraham Abraham, the UNCHR representative to Nepal. An estimated 103,000 Bhutanese refugees have been living in seven camps in the Morang and Jhapa districts of eastern Nepal - about 800km from Kathmandu – since they were evicted from Bhutan in 1990. In 1985, the Bhutanese government established new eligibility requirements for citizenship that effectively disenfranchised many ethnic Nepalis, known as Lhotshampas, depriving them of their citizenship and civil rights. In December 1990, Bhutan announced that Lhotshampas who could not prove they were residents of the country before 1958 had to leave. Tens of thousands fled to Nepal and the Indian state of West Bengal. UNHCR and the World Food Programme (WFP) have been providing emergency relief to the group. Rijal said 15 rounds of bilateral talks had been held between the governments of Nepal and Bhutan in the past 16 years but no settlement had been reached. “The only solution for us refugees is to have direct talks with the Bhutanese government,” Rijal said. “All we want is to return home, our properties returned by the Bhutanese government and our rights to live as citizens and not refugees.” Observers hope that the process will speed up, spurred on by the end of Nepal’s decade-long Maoist insurgency and the return of an interim government following the end of King Gyanendra’s absolute rule. The Nepalese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said that the interim government was committed to resolving the issue of Bhutanese refugees as soon as possible. “We are looking for a lasting solution for the Bhutanese refugees and we are already discussing how to initiate new talks,” said Yadav Khanal, a spokesman for the ministry.