Refugees likely to leave for Bhutan in two months

By Bhuwaneshor Sharma

KATHMANDU, March 26: More than 12,000 Bhutanese refugees, who are being categorised in Thimpu, must wait at least two more months before they can be repatriated to their homeland.

The refugees of Khudunabari, one of the seven UNHCR-administered camps in east Nepal, were verified last year by a joint verification team (JVT). They are now being categorised into four groups - bonafide Bhutanese, non-Bhutanese, those who voluntarily emigrated and those with criminal records.
The first of the refugees will start leaving for Bhutan after the 14th round of the Ministerial Joint Committee (MJC) meeting scheduled for May 11 in Kathmandu.

The JVT will submit its categorisation results at the MJC meeting, Minister for Foreign Affairs Narendra Bikram Shah told journalists today at the Tribhuvan International Airport. He returned home after participating in the 13th round of the MJC meeting on March 24 and 25 in the Bhutanese capital.
"The JVT will go to Khudunabari within the two weeks of the 14th round of the MJC in Kathmandu so that the categorised refugees can fill up the voluntary repatriation forms. Their repatriation will then begin," said Shah. "We cannot force the refugees to leave Nepal. They will have to fill the forms before the repatriation according to international refugee law," said Shah.

The Nepalese side has almost finished categorising the refugees. The Bhutanese side will now have to review, which is expected to finish before the 14th round of the ministerial level talks.

The Nepalese foreign minister claimed that the 13th round of the MJC meet has made significant progress in agreeing to the modalities for repatriation.He confirmed that no third party shall be consulted in resolving the crisis. He said that both the countries were capable of resolving the problem themselves.The Nepalese delegation had met the Bhutanese king and Prime Minister.

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