PM Dahal tries to cajole his Bhutanese counterpart to resolve refugee crisis

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal met his Bhutanese counterpart Jigme Thinley in New York Wednesday and urged him to allow Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal to return home.

According to Nepal Television, the Bhutanese PM 'assured' that he would "take initiatives towards finding a solution to the refugee problem".

The refugee issue has been discussed at the Prime Ministerial level after a long gap since the breakdown of bilateral talks with the Druk regime constantly refusing to take back the refugees it evicted 18 years ago.

The two Prime Ministers met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

With hopes for repatriation of over 110,000 refusing fading away, the United States, Australia and few other nations have pledged to resettle around 70,000 refugees. Some 5000 refugees have already been resettled in the US. nepalnews.com mk Sept 25 08

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