Kathmandu: The US has expressed its deep satisfaction over the increased activities of Nepal and Bhutan taken for the smooth repatriation of the Bhutanese refugees languishing in Nepali camps for well over a decade or so.
To recall, the issue of the Bhutanese refugees took a dramatic turn when only recently the US Assistant Secretary of State, Carl Inderfurth talking to Nepali media men said that the outgoing US administration had some unfinished jobs and the issue of the Bhutanese refugees constituted one.
Carl Inderfurth later visited Thimpu and is reported to have told the Dragon Kingdom to sort out the matter amicably with Nepal or face grave consequences. To recall, the accompanying minister Julia Taft also contributed to the speedy solution to the refugee issue when she aired the possibility of the diversion of the aid packages pouring in Bhutan to other countries if Bhutan continued dilly-dallying process regarding the repatriation of its citizens from Nepali camps.
Unconfirmed sources say that on Monday the Kathmandu based diplomatic missions belonging to the European Union also took stock of the ongoing verification process of the refugees as agreed by Nepal and Bhutan last year.
A statement issued by the US Department of State in this regard is as follows: “The United States is pleased to note that Nepal and Bhutan are moving to implement their recent agreement to resolve the longstanding problem of nearly 100,000 persons claiming refugee status from Bhutan who have been hosted by Nepal in refugee camps during the past decade. On January 4, in accordance with an agreement signed in Kathmandu on December 28, each country named five-member expert teams that are scheduled to visit the camps next week to begin the process of verification and repatriation of those found eligible to return to Bhutan. The statement further adds: “The United States has encouraged Nepal and Bhutan to resolve this refugee issue fully and fairly, and we applaud their recent measures to do so. We have long been a major contributor, through the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Program, to the humanitarian needs of these people. We plan to continue working with all concerned parties, at their request, to facilitate the just resolution of this longstanding humanitarian problem.