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Bhutanese refugee screening process was flawed: HR group
Kathmandu, Sept 03: The screening process for Bhutanese refugees living in one of seven UN-run camps in eastern Nepal was fundamentally flawed and unacceptable, international human rights groups said.
Kathmandu, Sept 03: The screening process for Bhutanese refugees living in one of seven UN-run camps in eastern Nepal was fundamentally flawed and unacceptable, international human rights groups said.
In June, a team of Bhutanese and Nepali government officials declared after months of interviews that only about two per cent of the 12,183 people living in the Khudunabari
camp were "bona fide Bhutanese" and would be allowed to return home.
"It is unacceptable that even after 12 years the problem is still unresolved and they are still living in camps," Rachael Reilly of the New York-based group Human Rights watch said late yesterday. Reilly, who spent several days visiting the camps with representatives from four other human rights groups, said the screening process was inconsistent and violated international norms.
She said most of the camp residents were declared non-Bhutanese despite having documents such as citizenship and tax papers and property ownership cards. In some cases, members of the same family were categorized as both Bhutanese and non-citizens, she said.
More than 100,000 Bhutanese refugees live in seven camps in eastern Nepal, about 500 km east of Kathmandu. "The whole (screening) process was not valid and a violation of fundamentals of international refugee standards," Reilly said. "Nepal, Bhutan and the international community must take steps to rectify the process."
Bureau Report
"It is unacceptable that even after 12 years the problem is still unresolved and they are still living in camps," Rachael Reilly of the New York-based group Human Rights watch said late yesterday. Reilly, who spent several days visiting the camps with representatives from four other human rights groups, said the screening process was inconsistent and violated international norms.
She said most of the camp residents were declared non-Bhutanese despite having documents such as citizenship and tax papers and property ownership cards. In some cases, members of the same family were categorized as both Bhutanese and non-citizens, she said.
More than 100,000 Bhutanese refugees live in seven camps in eastern Nepal, about 500 km east of Kathmandu. "The whole (screening) process was not valid and a violation of fundamentals of international refugee standards," Reilly said. "Nepal, Bhutan and the international community must take steps to rectify the process."
Bureau Report