DPM Oli on Bhutanese refugee stalemate: Repatriation is first priority
Deputy Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has said that Nepal is in favour of respectful repatriation of Bhutanese refugees to their homeland and that Nepal will press for the same in the upcoming talks with Bhutan.
Speaking at an interaction programme on the Bhutanese refugee crisis, in Kathmandu, on Saturday, Oli said it was problem between the Bhutan government and the Bhutanese people and that Nepal’s position is that the refugees should be repatriated to their homeland respectfully.
Oli, who also holds the foreign affairs portfolio, revealed that the Bhutanese Prime Minister had, during a meeting on the sidelines of UN general assembly in New York a few weeks earlier, rejected his proposal that Nepal was ready to mediate in negotiations between the Bhutan government and its people, if any, to settle the refugee crisis.
“We will put our position clearly in the upcoming bilateral talks. Other options will come into consideration only if the efforts for repatriation of the refugees fail,” he said, adding that Nepal was supportive of the ongoing democratic movement in Bhutan.
Nepal-Bhutan talks on the refugee crisis are set to take place on November 21-22 in Thimpu -- in the backdrop of assurances from some nations including the US to resettle more than 65,000 out of over 106,000 Bhutanese refugees languishing in seven UNHCR-administrated camps in eastern Nepal over the last 17 years.
15 rounds of ministerial-level bilateral talks have failed to settle the refugee stalemate, which is fast growing into a humanitarian crisis. nepalnews.com mk Nov 04 06
