Rizal urges Nepal govt. to expedite efforts to resolve refugee issue
Bhutanese human rights leader Tek Nath Rizal has urged Nepal government to expedite efforts to resolve the 15-year-old Bhutanese refugee impasse.
Calling on Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey on Wednesday, Rizal urged that Nepal should take urgent steps to ensure early and dignified repatriation of over 100, 000 Bhutanese refugees languishing in refugee camps in eastern Nepal over the last 15 years.
There have been over a dozen bilateral talks between Nepal and Bhutan over the issue but have failed to resolve it.
Minister Pandey assured that Nepal government would do to its best for refugees' repatriation. He also assured Rizal of solving the problems faced by the refugee communities in the camps, according to reports.
Refugees in camp have been staging sit-in program since last week against the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)'s decision to replace kerosene with coal briquettes.
This is the first time the Bhutanese pro-democracy leader met with Nepal’s foreign minister after the royal takeover in last February.
Rizal on the occasion also pleaded for issuance of travel documents to refugees so that they could lobby internationally for their early repatriation.
Few months back, HMG/Nepal had imposed ban on the issuance of travel documents to refugees in Nepal. Rizal himself was unable to attend a human rights conference in South Africa last month due to fresh restrictions. nepalnews.com by Dec 29 05
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