Nepal, Bhutan refugee talks in July

June 24, 2001
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Kathmandu, June 24: Nepal and Bhutan will hold their 11th ministerial level bilateral talks on the repatriation of 100,000 Bhutanese refugees living in camps in east Nepal in the last week of July, Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola said Saturday.

Bhutan last week sent a positive response to the Nepali suggestion for talks, Foreign Ministry sources said. Nepal proposed the talks after the slow pace in identifying the refugees for repatriation; the identification process was initiated for the first time this year by five Nepalis and five Bhutanese officials.

Only 3,575 persons of 571 families have been identified so far. Nepal wants to expand the teams to speed up the verification process.