RI mission to asses the plight of exiled Bhutanese

Kathmandu, September 26: Refugees International and Open Society Institute will jointly conduct an assessment mission focusing on the plight of exiled Bhutanese now living in Nepal for ten days in late September and early October.

The joint RI-OSI mission will involve discussions with international organizations, local non-governmental organizations, and Bhutanese rights activists in exile, in Kathmandu and Jhapa. According to the mission, the focus will be on developing new, practical ways to overcome the obstacles to a solution for the long-suffering.

While the primary focus of the follow-up advocacy will be in the region, the team will share potential solutions with the US refugee bureau and UNHCR.

Over the years there have been several attempts by interested donor governments, including the United States, and the UNHCR to negotiate a solution to this protracted problem.

At one point the governments of Nepal and Bhutan appeared to reach an agreement that would have allowed some exiled Bhutanese to return, but this agreement was never implemented after an initial effort to categorize the exiled Bhutanese and their reasons for leaving.

In recent months the focus has been on the possibility of resettling large numbers of them in third countries, with the US taking the lead in offering 60,000 potential resettlement slots over a four-year period. But Bhutanese political parties in the camps are insisting that return is the only possible option and are discouraging individuals expressing to opt third country resettlement. Bhutan News Service