Bhutanese refugees will return home at any cost: Rizal

January 11, 2006
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Bhutanese human rights leader Teknath Rizal

Bhutanese human rights leader Teknath Rizal (File Photo)
Bhutanese human rights leader Teknath Rizal has said that Bhutanese refugees will return to their motherland at any cost.

Speaking at a programme held at the Beldangi refugee camp on Tuesday, Rizal said the refugees will not bow down to the Bhutani King, adding, “We will go back to our motherland at any cost.”

About 30,000 Bhutanese refugees took part in the programme.

“Talks between Bhutan and Nepal alone cannot solve the refugee problem,” The Himalayan Times daily quoted Rizal as saying.

He also urged the Nepal government to take initiatives to make conducive environment for dialogue between the refugees and the Bhutani King.

Rizal further said that cuts in relief assistance are unfair, which have aggravated the problems of the refugees.

Over 100,000 Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origin are languishing in the seven UNHCR-maintained camps in eastern Nepal for the last 15 years. There have been over a dozen rounds of bilateral talks between Nepal and Bhutan in as many years but to no avail.