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Bhutan Letter to Prime Minister of Bhutan regarding discrimination against ethnic Nepalis Congratulations on your party’s victory in the recent elections to the National Assembly in Bhutan. We welcomed the sight of Bhutanese citizens coming out in large numbers to participate in the vote and begin a democratic political system. April 16, 2008 Letter Printer friendly version Bhutan's ethnic cleansing By Bill Frelick Published in New Statesman Bill Frelick examines the plight of Bhutan's stateless ethnic Nepalese. February 1, 2008 Commentary Printer friendly version Discrimination against Ethnic Nepali Children in Bhutan Submission from Human Rights Watch to the Committee on the Rights of the Child In this submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Human Rights Watch provided information to the Committee on violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the Bhutanese government against ethnic Nepali children in Bhutan and Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. October 3, 2007 Background Briefing China and Bhutan: crushing dissent By Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch Published in openDemocracy The study of history provides rich lessons about the damaging effects of oppression and injustice, particularly egregious human-rights violations. One of the most important is that if legitimate claimants are brutally repressed into silence and desperation, their grievances can be exploited by those who instigate further violence. The result of this mistaken choice of war over peace is that almost everyone involved is drawn into a circle of fear and degradation in a way that leaves them even worse off. July 4, 2007 Commentary Printer friendly version Bhutanese Refugees: The Right of Return, the Chance for Resettlement By Bill Frelick Published in The Huffington Post Bhutan may profit from evocative tourist images of an isolated cloud kingdom whose people live in serenity and colorful traditional dress, but for many Bhutanese it's far from idyllic. It's a place where citizens can't get a government job, buy or sell land, or open a business without a police-issued card attesting that the bearer is not "anti-national." But it's still home - or at least it should be - for the more than 100,000 Bhutanese citizens expelled in the early 1990s. June 20, 2007 Commentary Printer friendly version Nepal: Bhutanese Refugee Tensions Erupt Into Violence Nepali Police Need to Protect Refugees’ Freedom of Expression Violent clashes this week resulting in two deaths in Nepal’s Bhutanese refugee camps underscore the need for the Nepali police to protect refugees from mob violence and ensure their right to peaceful expression, Human Rights Watch said today. May 31, 2007 Press Release Printer friendly version Nepal: US Offer to Resettle Bhutanese Refugees Sparks Tensions Refugees Have Right of Return, but Should Be Free to Choose Other Options A US offer to resettle 60,000 Bhutanese refugees has given hope to many of the 106,000 refugees living in Nepal for more than 16 years, but has also heightened tensions in the camps, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Refugees who insist on repatriation as the only acceptable solution have been threatening and intimidating those who voice support for resettlement in the US. May 17, 2007 Press Release Also available in 
Printer friendly version Last Hope The Need for Durable Solutions for Bhutanese Refugees in Nepal and India This 86-page report discusses the possible solutions to this protracted refugee situation and the choices the refugees now face. It describes conditions of the ethnic Nepali refugees who have languished in exile in Nepal and India, and also documents continuing discrimination against the ethnic Nepalis still living in Bhutan, who live in fear that they too could be stripped of their citizenship and expelled from the country. HRW Index No.: C1907 May 17, 2007 Report Download PDF, 363 KB, 88 pgs Purchase online Read Press Release Forgotten in Nepal By Bill Frelick Published in The Wall Street Journal Asia The effects of ethnic cleansing aren’t confined to places like Darfur and Kosovo. Today, over 100,000 of Bhutan’s ethnic Nepali citizens languish in refugee camps here, stripped of their citizenship and stateless. It’s a decade-long tragedy that’s only getting worse. May 17, 2007 Commentary Printer friendly version Letter to SAARC Leaders In Anticipation of Summit In New Delhi Human Rights Watch released today a letter to the leaders of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and the Maldives urging them to make the promotion and protection of human rights a priority for the SAARC summit meeting on April 3-4 in New Delhi. March 29, 2007 Letter Printer friendly version Stateless Refugee Children from Bhutan Living in Nepal Testimony of Bill Frelick to a Joint Briefing for the Congressional Children's Caucus and the Congressional Human Rights Caucus on the Status of Stateless Children On February 15, 2007 Bill Frelick testified before the Congressional Children's Caucus and the Congressional Human Rights Caucus on stateless Bhutanese refugee children living in Nepal. February 15, 2007 Testimony Printer friendly version Nepal/Bhutan: Donors Called On To Resolve Protracted Refugee Problem Joint NGO Letter to the Delegates of the Bhutan Donors Round Table Meeting As a group of non-governmental organizations with a long-term involvement with the Bhutanese refugees – through advocacy on behalf of this community as well as in humanitarian service delivery and support – we would like to raise a number of concerns with you in advance of the Round Table meeting of Bhutan’s development partners to be held in Geneva on 15 February 2006. February 9, 2006 Letter Printer friendly version Letter Regarding Bhutanese Refugee Conditions Since our last letter, the Nepalese Government has carried out an investigation into the incident in Khudunabari camp on December 22, 2003, as requested by the Government of Bhutan. We understand that the Bhutanese government is now willing to resume negotiations to proceed with repatriation of the refugees. While the delays in resolving this matter have been unacceptable, this limited progress is welcome. December 16, 2004 Letter Printer friendly version Nepal/Bhutan: Bilateral Talks Fail to Solve Refugee Crisis International Community Should Take Concerted Action The latest round of talks between the governments of Bhutan and Nepal to resolve the Bhutanese refugee crisis has failed to provide a solution, a coalition of five leading nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) said today. Donor countries should convene an international conference to devise a solution to the longstanding crisis. October 28, 2003 Press Release Printer friendly version Nepal/Bhutan: Donors Must Push for Resolution to Refugee Crisis International Conference Needed; UNHCR Proposal Inadequate Donor countries to Bhutan and Nepal should convene an international conference to resolve the long-standing Bhutanese refugee crisis, six leading nongovernmental organizations said in a joint letter. October 13, 2003 Press Release Printer friendly version Open letter to donor governments on Bhutanese refugees Your Excellency, We appreciate the concerns that your Government has expressed at the deeply troubling situation of the Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. As the High Commissioner noted in his speech at the opening session of UNHCR's Executive Committee meeting held in Geneva last week, there is a critical need for urgent measures to resolve this situation after twelve years of stalemate. The situation has become even more disturbing with the deteriorating security situation in the country and the withdrawal of police presence from the camps, which has left the refugees without adequate security. October 13, 2003 Letter Nepal/Bhutan: Refugee Women Face Abuses UNHCR, Governments Must Take Action at ExCom Bhutanese refugee women in Nepal encounter gender-based violence and systematic discrimination in access to aid, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. (in Nepali) September 24, 2003 Press Release Also available in
Printer friendly version Trapped by Inequality Bhutanese Refugee Women in Nepal Bhutanese refugee women in Nepal encounter gender-based violence and systematic discrimination in access to aid.This 77-page report examines the uneven response of UNHCR and the government of Nepal to rape, domestic violence, sexual and physical assault, and trafficking of girls and women from refugee camps. These problems persist despite reforms UNHCR introduced after internal investigations uncovered “sexual exploitation” of refugee women and girls by aid workers in Nepal and West Africa in 2002. The Human Rights Watch report shows how Nepal’s laws constrain the prosecution of gender-based violence. Specific domestic violence legislation does not exist in Nepal. A 35-day statute of limitations and burdensome medical reporting procedures prevent rape victims from filing complaints with the police and pressing criminal charges. The same obstacles have prevented any prosecution of aid workers and Nepalese government employees accused of “sexual exploitation” in October 2002. HRW Index No.: C1508 September 24, 2003 Report Download PDF Purchase online Nepal: Bhutanese Refugee Screening Seriously Flawed International NGOs Declare Process Invalid The screening of Bhutanese refugees by the governments of Bhutan and Nepal is fundamentally flawed, a joint mission of non-governmental organizations said at the end of a two-week mission to India and Nepal. September 2, 2003 Press Release Printer friendly version Nepal: Bhutanese Refugees Rendered Stateless Leading Global NGOs Criticize Screening Process The announcement by the governments of Bhutan and Nepal that only a handful of Bhutanese refugees will be allowed to return to their country with full citizenship rights could render tens of thousands of refugees stateless, six international humanitarian and rights groups said today. The refugees will have just fifteen days to appeal their categorization in a screening process that the two governments have been conducting since March 2001. June 18, 2003 Press Release Printer friendly version |
 
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