Apathy deprives refugees of medical treatment (REPRODUCTION)

Timai, June 17: Bhutanese refugees languishing in camps here in Jhapa and Morang districts have been deprived of medical treatment owing allegedly to apathy from the referral committee comprising representatives of Amda-Nepal Damak, Amda-Nepal Birtamod, Mechi Hospital and UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Due to delay in treatment, the condition of refugees urgently needing medication is deteriorating. "Doctors have referred them to well-equipped hospitals in Biratnagar, Dharan and other cities, but they cannot go there as they need approval from the referral committee," lamented refugees.

Mani Raj Bhandari, a refugee, fractured his left hand two months ago. Doctors in Amda-Nepal Damak advised him to go to Biratnagar for treatment. "We have been impatiently waiting for approval from the committee, but in vain," said his worried father Ishwori Prasad.

Six months ago, 11-year-old Yog Raj Subedi fractured his left leg. He was sent to Bharatpur Cancer Hospital two months after the incident. Doctors there amputated his leg as it had already become cancerous.

"These few cases constitute just the tip of the iceberg," said Rajman Gurung, a refugee leader at Timai camp. "This is a conspiracy hatched by UNHCR to give mental torture to refugees and compel them to accept any of their conditions," Gurung blamed.

Earlier, there were instances when up to 35 patients were referred by the then referral committee in a day, claimed Gurung.
(Source: The Kathmandu Post, June 18, 2008)