A delegation of Bhutanese refugees has started lobbying with Nepali officials and representatives of international community– that coincides with the on-going mission of the European Council Troika to Nepal, India and Bhutan—to mobilise internationaal support.
“The Bhutanese refugee community is highly encouraged to learn that His Majesty’s Government of Nepal is inclined to seek international community’s intervention on the Bhutanese refugee crisis. The refugee community urges HMG Nepal to ask for such intervention during the EC’s Troika mission to Nepal, India and Bhutan,” said a statement issued by Human Rights Council of Bhutan (HRCB).
”The refugee community has been emphasizing all along that a durable solution to the refugee problem could not be realized through the existing bilateral process,” the statement said.
A 11 member delegation of Bhutanese refugees—that consists of nine verified refugees from Khudunabari camp—has called upon Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Prakash Sharan Mahat and UN senior human rights advisor to Nepal David Johnson, among others.
“Given a choice all the verified Bhutanese refugees from Khudunabari Camp are very keen to be able to exercise their right to return to their own country,” said Ratan Gazmere, delegate representative of the HRCB.
“ However in the given bilateral agreements with Bhutan and Nepal and conditions in side Bhutan, there is no room to opt for voluntary repatriation despite this being their most preferred option,” he said.
During its visit to National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the refugee delegation urged the NHRC Chairman and its members to take serious note of what it said continued violation of human rights of both unverified and verified Bhutanese refugees.
After the completion of EC Troika’s mission in Nepal, a team led by Laurence Argimon-Pistre, Head of Unit for South Asia, is scheduled to travel to Bhutan to ask the Thimphu regime to take back their citizens stranded in the UNHCR camps in eastern Nepal. A similar mission in October 2004 by US Assistant Secretary to State Gene Dewey had visited Nepal, India and Bhutan to expedite the resolution of Bhutanese refugee crisis. nepalnews.com by Dec 14 04