November 05, 2001
KATHMANDU: Nepali and Bhutani foreign secretaries will begin a two-day meet Tuesday to harmonize differences on categorization of refugee status for their eventual repatriation after living in UNHCR-administered camps in two east Nepal districts for more than a decade.
Nepali Foreign Secretary Narayan S. Thapa and Daso Y.Tshering will head the respective delegations to the dialogue. The talks are being held after the last round of ministerial level talks in Thimpu, the Bhutani capital.
More than 9000 of 12,00 refugees living in a camp in Jhapa have been identified after the process started for the first time earlier this year. Nepal is pressing for their repatriation by the end of the year.
Nepal says the displaced persons were forcibly evicted from their homes in Bhutan while Thimpu says the refugees are illegal immigrants who left home voluntarily.