Nepal: 13 Years On, No Solution in Sight for Refugees in Nepali Camps

From IPS News Net:

GENEVA, Oct 19 (IPS) - More than 100,000 refugees from the small Himalayan nation of Bhutan continue to languish in camps in Nepal, while neither talks between the governments of the two South Asian kingdoms nor the international community have come up with any plan to put an end to their forced exile, which has dragged on for 13 years.

The long wait to return to their homes and their land has undermined the refugees' hopes and left them extremely frustrated, especially the younger generations, said Bhutanese Professor Ratan Gazmere, who was forced into exile in 1992.

Since late 1990, tens of thousands of ethnic Nepalis from southern Bhutan, who are mainly Hindus, have been expelled from the country and stripped of their Bhutanese nationality, said Gazmere.

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