A Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper for the Fourteenth Ministerial Joint Committee of Bhutan and Nepal, May 19, 2003

Related Material More on Human Rights in Bhutan More on Human Rights in Nepal More on Women’s Rights More on Refugees

1. Summary

2. Background

   History of the Bhutanese Refugee Situation in Nepal

   Forced Expulsions, Refugee Flight, and the Right to Return

3. The Status Verification Process

   Categorization

   Verification’s Potential Pitfalls: Deprivation of Nationality and Statelessness

4. Pre-conditions for Voluntary Repatriation

   Introduction

   "Push" Factors

   Neutral, Accurate, and Objective Information

5. Conditions in Bhutan

   Access to and Presence of UNHCR

   Continuing Discrimination in Bhutan

   Discrimination relating to citizenship status in Bhutan

   Discrimination in employment and education

   Restrictions on freedom of movement

6. Conclusion

7. Recommendations

   To the Governments of Bhutan and Nepal

   To the Government of Bhutan

   To the Government of Nepal

   To the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

   To Donors, the Government of India, and the International Community

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