Wednesday, 7 November, 2001, 05:02 GMT
Nepal and Bhutan discuss refugees

A two-day meeting of Nepalese and Bhutanese officials has begun in Kathmandu to discuss the repatriation of ethnic Nepalese refugees who claim to be Bhutanese nationals, allegedly forced out of their own country a decade ago.
The meeting will focus on agreeing the classification of refugees.

Correspondents say one of the main stumbling blocks has been defining who is a refugee.

Nepal says that almost all the 100,000 refugees living in camps in eastern Nepal have valid documentation proving they are Bhutanese nationals.

Bhutan says it's willing to take back only genuine refugees who, it says, number no more than a few thousand.

Bhutan says that many had left the country voluntarilyand some had committed economic offences, which under their law, disqualifies their right to be Bhutanese citizens.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
========================================================

Nepal and Bhutan discuss refugees



About 100,000 refugees have been living in camps

By Sushil Sharma in Kathmandu
A two-day meeting aimed at resolving the problem of Bhutan refugees in Nepal has got under way in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu.

The talks will focus on verifying the true nationality of about 100,000 ethnic Nepalese refugees, who say they are Bhutanese, with a view to repatriating them.

The refugees, who have been living in camps in eastern Nepal for more than a decade, say they fled ethnic and political repression in Bhutan.

Nepal says all the refugees have valid documents showing they are Bhutanese and have the right to return home.

But Bhutan is prepared to take back only genuine Bhutanese refugees which it says number no more than a few thousand.

Bridging the gap

The two sides are led by Nepal's Foreign Secretary Narayan Shumsher Thapa, and his Bhutanese counterpart, Ugyen Tshering.

Verification of the refugees' nationality could take years.

The last round of talks was held in August in the Bhutanese capital Thimphu.

It still remains unclear how the two sides will bridge their differences.

Bhutan says many of the refugees left the country voluntarily while some had committed economic offences, thus forfeiting their right to Bhutanese citizenship.

After several rounds of ministerial talks over the past ten years, the two countries began joint verification of the refugees' documents earlier this year.

But only 10,000 have been dealt with so far and analysts say a major breakthrough is unlikely in the current meeting.

Refugee organisations have demanded that the process be speeded up.

==================================
Monday, 10 September, 2001, 07:38 GMT 08:38 UK
Bhutanese refugee leader assassinated

A prominent Bhutanese refugee leader has been assassinated in eastern Nepal, which is home to around 100,000 ethnic Nepali refugees who say they have been forced out of Bhutan.
Mr RK Budhathoki, who was the leader of the Bhutan People's Party, was attacked with a knife while attending a meeting of refugees at Damak.

Police afterwards arrested four people in connection with the killing.

The Nepali refugees, who are Hindus, say ethnic discrimination in Bhutan, which is predominantly Bhuddist, forced them to flee their homes ten years ago - a charge Bhutan denies.

Nepal and Bhutan are now negotiating over the repatriation of the refugees.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
=====================
Thursday, 23 August, 2001, 16:56 GMT 17:56 UK
Nepal Bhutan refugee talks make progress

Nepal and Bhutan say they have agreed to accelerate efforts to resolve the long-standing problem of around 100,000 ethnic Nepalese living in camps in eastern Nepal who say they are Bhutanese.
The two sides reached agreement following talks in the Bhutanese capital, Thimpu.

On his return to Kathmandu, Nepal's ambassador to Bhutan said the processing of paperwork for the Hindu refugees will be speeded up.

He said the interviewing process, by which the nationality of the refugees is determined, will be simplified.

The refugees say they were forced to leave Bhutan 10 years ago by ethnic and political oppression.

The issue has long soured relations between the two countries.

Bhutan says it is prepared to take back genuine Bhutanese refugees, but maintains that these number only a few thousand.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
=================================

Monday, 20 August, 2001, 12:45 GMT 13:45 UK
Nepal and Bhutan hold refugee talks


About 100,000 refugees have been living in camps

By Sushil Sharma in Kathmandu
Talks aimed at resolving the problem of Bhutan refugees in Nepal are getting underway in the Bhutanese capital, Thimphu.

Authorities in Nepal say the talks will focus on verifying the true nationality of about 100,000 refugees to ensure their early repatriation.



Verification of the refugees' nationality could take years

This is the first ministerial meeting between Bhutan and Nepal since they reached a crucial agreement earlier this year to start the verification of refugees.

The Nepalese team at the talks is being led by a senior minister, Ram Sharan Mahat. The Bhutanese side is being led by its Foreign Minister, Jigme Thinley.

About 100,000 ethnic Nepalese, who say they are Bhutanese, have been living in camps in eastern Nepal for the past 10 years.

They say they were forced to leave Bhutan in the wake of alleged ethnic and political repression.

Nepal says all refugees are Bhutanese and they have the right to return to their homeland.

Calls to speed up

But Bhutan is prepared to take back only genuine Bhutanese refugees which it says are not more than a few thousand.

Verification of about 6,000 refugees has already been completed since the process began three months ago. But critics say at this rate the verification and eventual repatriation of refugees would take several years.

Refugee organisations have also demanded that the process be speeded up. The talks on Monday are aimed at finding mutually acceptable ways to accelerate the process.
===============================================

Tuesday, 27 March, 2001, 08:17 GMT 09:17 UK
Bhutanese minister defends record on minority

Bhutan's Foreign Minister Jigme Thinley, has said that any refugees allowed back into his country from Nepal will be free to speak their own language, practise their own religion and wear traditional dress.
The minister was speaking to the BBC as Nepalese and Bhutanese officials began the long-awaited process of interviewing an estimated 100,000 refugees camped in eastern Nepal.

The refugees say they are Bhutanese forced out of their own country by persecution.

The minister denied that people of Nepalese origin faced discrimination in Bhutan, saying they occupied positions of importance in government, parliament and the private sector.

Nepal says all the refugees must return to their homeland.

However Bhutan says it is prepared to take back only those it describes as genuine refugees.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

================================================

Sunday, 15 April, 2001, 18:08 GMT 19:08 UK 
Bhutan warns Assam rebels

Bhutan has deployed more than three-thousand soldiers along its border with India. 

A military spokesman said the troop movement was intended to neutralise the presence of Assam rebel groups from India, but declined to say whether the troops would mount an operation against them. 

Bhutan has always expressed concern about the presence of the rebels. 

The Home Minister Thinley Gyamtsho said recently the rebels had failed to live up to a promise to leave the country. 

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service 

Thursday, 14 September, 2000, 14:35 GMT 15:35 UK

Monday, 10 January, 2000, 23:10 GMT
Return of Bhutanese refugees demanded
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Monday, 20 December, 1999, 17:17 GMT
Bhutanese opposition wants talks with King

Monday, 20 December, 1999, 17:17 GMT
Bhutanese opposition wants talks with King

Tuesday, September 14, 1999 Published at 16:13 GMT 17:13 UK
No progress in Nepal refugee talks

The argument is over how many refugees are Bhutanese citizens
By Sushil Sharma in Kathmandu

The first day of talks between Nepal and Bhutan to resolve the problem of Nepal-based refugees who say they are Bhutanese citizens has ended without conclusion.

The visiting Bhutanese foreign minister, Jigme Thinley, is leading the Bhutanese delegation in the talks while his Nepalese counterpart, Ram Sharan Mahat, is representing the host country.

It is the first time in three and a half years that the foreign ministers of the two countries have held formal talks.

The authorities say that the latest talks, the eighth in six years, will focus on developing a verification mechanism to determine the status of the refugees.

Previous rounds have failed following disagreement on this very question.

Nepal says all 100,000 refugees living in Nepal are Bhutanese citizens, and has insisted that Bhutan should take them back.

Bhutan disagrees.

It has said that only a few thousand refugees are Bhutanese citizens, and has refused to allow the rest to return to Bhutan.

The refugees have been living in camps in eastern Nepal for the past nine years.

They say they were forced to flee Bhutan in the wake of alleged ethnic cleansing and political repression - an allegation Bhutan denies.

Both Nepal and Bhutan have said they hope that progress can be made in the current round of talks

Monday, September 13, 1999 Published at 12:44 GMT 13:44 UK
Nepal and Bhutan discuss refugees

The Bhutanese Foreign Minister, Jigme Thinley, has started a four-day visit to Nepal for talks on resolving the problem of the Nepal-based refugees who say they are Bhutanese citizens.

It's the first time in three and a half years that both sides have held formal talks.

Mr Thinley and his Nepalese counterpart, Ram Sharan Mahat, have expressed optimism about the outcome of the meeting, which begins tomorrow. It's expected that the two sides will concentrate on developing a process of verification to determine the status of the refugees.

Nepal says all one-hundred-thousand are Bhutanese citizens; Bhutan says only a few thousand.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Friday, July 9, 1999 Published at 14:31 GMT 15:31 UK
Nepal wants to repatriate Bhutanese refugees

The new Nepalese foreign minister, Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, has said his government will review its policy towards the country's Bhutanese refugees.

Dr Mahat says the one-hundred thousand refugees living in camps in eastern Nepal have become an economic burden.

He called for the resumption of talks with Bhutan in order to organise a peaceful repatriation of the refugees as soon as possible.

Talks between the two sides three years ago ended without agreement.

The refugees fled Bhutan more than ten years ago following changes in Bhutanese law which they say discriminated against them.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Thursday, June 17, 1999 Published at 17:10 GMT 18:10 UK
Amnesty points to abuses in

In Bhutan

Amnesty says that around 120 political prisoners were sentenced for terms of up to 15 years in jail. It says that many of those were reportedly ill treated or tortured.

Thursday, June 10, 1999 Published at 15:59 GMT 16:59 UK
World: South Asia
Bhutan police arrest refugees from Nepal

A Nepal-based Bhutanese refugee organisation says eighty of its members have been arrested by police on Bhutan's border with India.

The Bhutan Gorkha National Liberation Front says the activists were travelling from refugee camps in eastern Nepal to the Bhutan capital, Thimpu.

They planned to ask the King to take back more than one-hundred-thousand refugees.

The Front says the refugees have been living in Nepal for the past nine years, but the Bhutan government says only a few thousand are genuine Bhutanese citizens.

The refugees say they've been forced out of the country by political repression.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Wednesday, March 3, 1999 Published at 17:22 GMT
World: South Asia
Bhutanese refugees in Nepal hold demonstration

A group of Nepal-based Bhutanese refugee organisations have held a demonstration in Kathmandu to protest against alleged human rights violations in Bhutan.

They accuse the Bhutanese security forces of torturing members of the pro-democracy National Movement of Bhutan.

The group is fighting for the establishment of multi-party democracy to replace the monarchy.

It is also calling for the repatriation of one-hundred-thousand Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Sunday, February 28, 1999 Published at 12:02 GMT
Bhutan arrests ethnic Nepalese pro-democracy demonstrators

Ethnic Nepalese groups in Bhutan say the country's police have again stopped them holding a pro-democracy rally in the southern town of Phuentsoling.

A spokesman for Bhutan's National Movement for Democracy, Chheku Drukpa, said at least twenty demonstrators were seriously injured when police moved in to break up a rally -- an allegation denied by the police.

He said the demonstrators were arrested and handed over to the Indian police for possible deportation to Nepal.

Mr Drukpa accused India of helping Bhutan crush the country's fledgling pro-democracy movement.

Ethnic Nepalese demonstrators have been deported to Nepal with the aid of Indian police in West Bengal twice this year.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Wednesday, January 27, 1999 Published at 17:20 GMT
Bhutanese protesters call for democracy

Activists are praying for political reform
Bhutan's police say they have again broken up a pro-democracy demonstration in the kingdom's southern town of Phuntsholing.

The demonstrators were protesting over the lack of political reform, and calling for the repatriation of tens of thousands of Bhutanese from Nepal.

The leaders of the country's National Movement for Democracy said the protest had continued at a gate separating Phuntsholing from a town on the Indian side of the border.

Refugees try to return

Last week, police in the Indian state of West Bengal arrested 261 refugees who were trying to march back into Phuntsholing from their camps in eastern Nepal.

A spokesman for the Bhutanese pro-democracy group said Wednesday's protest involved nearly 300 people inside the town of Phuntsholing.

He said that another 50-60 Bhutanese refugees, who had evaded an Indian police dragnet last week, had tried to sneak back into the town from the Indian side of the border.

The Bhutanese police superintendent at Phuntsholing, Sonam Thendhup, told the BBC his men had pushed back the refugees. However, it was not clear whether the Bhutanese police had made any arrests.

The BBC Calcutta Correspondent Subir Bhaumik says this was perhaps the first demonstration on Bhutanese soil in the last eight years.

Calling for reform

Bhutan has recently introduced political reforms to ensure what it describes as a more participatory form of government.

But pro-democracy groups have said these changes are largely cosmetic. They say the minority continues to retain the real social power in the Himalayan kingdom.

Bhutan is an absolute monarchy with no written constitution.

Activists are calling for a parliamentary form of government with a constitutional monarchy.

They also want Bhutan to take back the thousands of refugees, mostly of Nepali origin, who left Bhutan earlier in the decade complaining of ethnic persecution.

Bhutan says the real number of the refugees is less than one-third the number claimed by their leaders.

In December last year, Bhutan's pro-democracy groups decided to unite.

Stepping up the campaign

Rongthong Kinley Torji, who led one of the groups, the Druk National Congress, was given the leadership of the unified movement for democracy.

He says it has been decided to organise demonstrations inside Bhutan, and at the same time lead the tens of thousands of Bhutanese refugees now in Nepal back to Bhutan.

Bilateral dialogues between Bhutan and Nepal to find a solution to the refugee problem have failed, and India has refused to accept the request of refugee leaders to mediate.

Delhi says the refugee problem is a bilateral problem between Bhutan and Nepal better solved by them. But it has made it clear that no dissident activity against Bhutan's royal government will be tolerated on the Indian side of the border.

Saturday, January 23, 1999 Published at 19:58 GMT
Hundreds of Bhutanese refugees arrested

Bhutanese refugee leaders say more than one-hundred-and-fifty refugees have been arrested in India while on their way to a demonstration in Bhutan.

They were among hundreds planning to join the protest demanding greater democracy in Bhutan.

The refugees were charged with illegally entering Indian territory.

Tens of thousands of Bhutanese refugees - mainly of Nepali origin -- have been living in camps in Nepal for the last nine years.

They fled Bhutan complaining of persecution - a charge the Bhutanese authorities describe as completely baseless.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Wednesday, January 6, 1999 Published at 13:39 GMT
Leading Bhutanese broadcaster seeks asylum abroad

The authorities in Bhutan say that a leading radio broadcaster -- and a member of the minority ethnic Nepali community -- is seeking political asylum in the Netherlands.

A foreign ministry official told the BBC that the broadcaster, Nandalal Gautam, who headed the Nepali service of the state-owned Bhutan Broadcasting Corporation, went to the Netherlands in December for a training course.

Mr Gautam later disappeared, but has now re-emerged, and officials in the Netherlands confirm that he is seeking asylum to escape what he calls ethnic persecution in Bhutan.

The Bhutanese authorities deny that Mr Gautam was persecuted in any way.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Tuesday, January 5, 1999 Published at 16:19 GMT
Amnesty's return to Bhutan

Representatives of the human rights organisation, Amnesty International, have completed their first visit to Bhutan in six years to investigate allegations of human rights abuses.

The Bhutanese foreign minister, said the Amnesty team met king Jigme Singye Wangchuk, and also visited prisons and spoke to inmates during their stay.

Amnesty has yet to produce a report on the visit.

However a senior Amnesty official has already said that there was now much more openness in Bhutan.

He added though that it was necessary to strengthen freedom of expression in the country.

Bhutan has often alleged that Amnesty's reports about alleged large-scale human rights violations in the kingdom have been grossly exaggerated and one-sided.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Thursday, November 26, 1998 Published at 18:07 GMT
Bhutanese refugees 'to go home soon'

Children weaving in the refugee camps
By South Asia Analyst Alastair Lawson

Nepalese Home Minister Govinda Raj Joshi has said he is confident that an agreement will soon be made with Bhutan to repatriate 100,000 refugees who are currently living in camps in the east of Nepal.

Mr Joshi was speaking after a three day official visit to Bhutan to discuss the plight of the refugees, who eight years ago began coming to Nepal from Bhutan.

The latest negotiations were the first time in three years that the two sides had held talks at ministerial level.

Throughout the 1990s Nepal and Bhutan have been in dispute over the nationality of the refugees.

Nepal says the majority are Bhutanese and should be allowed to return home. But Bhutan says over two-thirds of the refugees are Nepalese, and has refused to take them back.

Ethnic and cultural divisions

The disagreement between the two countries in some ways reflects ethnic and cultural divisions in Bhutan.

The northern part of Bhutan is mostly inhabited by Drukpas, who are Buddhists. They occupy most senior positions in government and the civil service.

The King of Bhutan, the absolute monarch Jigme Singhe Wanchouk, belongs to this group.

The southern part of Bhutan has traditionally been inhabited by Nepali speaking Hindu immigrants from Nepal who have been coming into the country since the end of the last century. In general they have retained their Nepalese culture and traditions, which starkly differ from those of the Drukpas.

Up until the mid-1980s there had been little or no conflict between the Drukpas and the Nepalese migrants. But around this time the campaign for democracy in the kingdom gathered pace.

The authorities blamed much of the unrest on the Nepali speaking minority, and introduced strict legislation which required them to adopt Drukpa culture. Some were classified as illegal immigrants.

The Nepalese community opposed these laws and organised demonstrations calling for their repeal. They say these protests were harshly dealt with by the government, who they say forced them to leave the country.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Since the early 1990s, more than 100,000 refugees have made their way into south-eastern Nepal through India. They live in several refugee camps under the supervision of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees.

Most commentators agree that the plight of the refugees cannot be solved without the intervention of India, one of the few countries that has any influence over Bhutan. Yet Delhi has in the past shown a marked reluctance to become involved in the dispute.

There have been eight rounds of talks between Nepal and Bhutan over the refugee question but none has been successful.

Although Nepal is optimistic that Bhutan may soon allow those refugees it considers to be genuine Bhutanese citizens to be repatriated, the overwhelming majority are unlikely to follow suit unless India takes more interest in their plight.

Thursday, September 24, 1998 Published at 21:21 GMT 22:21 UK
Bhutan consulate sale delayed

The authorities in New York have delayed a request by Bhutan to open a new consulate in the city because of the country's alleged human rights abuses.

Bhutan is seeking to buy premises from local authorities in the district of Manhattan.

But a city spokesman said at least one representative dealing with the proposed sale has expressed concern about Bhutan's treatment of Hindu refugees who he said had been forced to leave the country for Nepal.

A Bhutanese government spokesman in New York said negotiations to buy the property from the local authority were continuing.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Sunday, July 12, 1998 Published at 22:35 GMT 23:35 UK
Bhutanese death allegations

A group pressing for multi-party democracy in Bhutan -- the Druk National Congress -- has alleged that one of their activists has died of torture and malnutrition in jail.

A statement said the activist Ugen Wangdiwas arrested last October during a peaceful demonstration in eastern Bhutan.

A government spokesman denied the charge, and said Wangdi's death was due to ill-health.

The human rights group, Amnesty International recently alleged the Bhutanese security forces had made a large number of the arrests in the east of the country, in an effort to disprupt dissident activities within the Sarchop community.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Sunday, July 19, 1998 Published at 18:11 GMT 19:11 UK
King of Bhutan accused of hypocrisy

Political reform - the King's new clothes?
The main exiled Bhutanese dissident group, the United Front for Democracy in Bhutan, has accused King Jigme Singye Wangchuk of introducing political reform only in a desperate attempt to refurbish the global image of his country.

In a statement issued in Calcutta, the UFDB chairman, Thinley Penjore, said the King was just bringing back reforms he had already cancelled.

The reforms were originally introduced in 1971 by the king's father, Jigme Dorji Wangchuk, to reduce the absolute power of the monarchy.

They include measures allowing the Bhutanese national assembly to force the monarch to abdicate.

Thimphu - Bhutan's capital

Under the new rules, the king will have to stand down in favour of the crown prince if there is ever a two-thirds majority in the assembly in favour.

King Wangchuck has also given the assembly the right to elect the majority of members in the country's cabinet.

He said the King had put his own supporters in key positions in the Bhutanese national assembly before offering it the opportunity to challenge royal decisions.

A government spokesman said the exiled opposition was reacting in disarray to democratic reforms which had caught them off guard.

King's power curbed

The King is relinquishing some of his powers
Bhutan's National Assembly has voted to make royal appointees to the cabinet face an election in the Assembly for the first time.

Observers describe the move to curb King Jigme Singye Wangchuk's powers in the tiny Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan as the end of an era.

It follows another big change in political life in Bhutan last week when the King dissolved his cabinet and dropped several ministers who had served for more than 20 years.

After the vote on Wednesday he put forward six more cabinet nominees - relatively young civil servants - who the assembly approved by a large margin.

The tiny kingdom nestles in the Himalayan mountains

The King's supporters say the changes fit into Wangchuk's vision of a slow transition to democracy.

But his critics believe the cabinet reshuffle is a political gimmick intended to give the world a false impression that Bhutan is indeed heading for democracy.

Correspondents say the pro-democracy movement is split. One party - the United Front for Democracy in Bhutan - wants to intensify the campaign for greater democracy.

The other main party, the Appeals Movements Co-ordination Council, wants to concentrate on bringing home thousands of Bhutanese refugees who have been living in Nepal for almost ten years because of a restrictive citizenship law.

The political reforms are not the only change to have hit this isolated kingdom of 600,000 people in the last month. The King, a football fan, made an exception to the normal ban on television by putting up giant screens around the capital to broadcast the World Cup.

The government is now reportedly examining whether to set up its own television service.

Thursday, November 26, 1998 Published at 14:38 GMT
World: South Asia
Nepal says refugee agreement with Bhutan closer

The Nepalese home minister, Govinda Raj Joshi, has said his country and Bhutan have edged closer to resolving an eight-year dispute on the repatriation of one-hundred-thousand refugees living in eastern Nepal.

Mr Joshi was speaking after a three-day visit to Bhutan, the first at this level for three years.

He said he expected an agreement on repatriation in the next two months.

Many of the refugees say they are ethnic Nepalese, forced to flee Bhutan in 1990 by ethnic repression.

Nepal says they are Bhutanese citizens and must return; Bhutan says less than a third are Bhutanese citizens.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Monday, November 23, 1998 Published at 12:30 GMT
World: South Asia
Nepal-Bhutan talks on refugees issue

A Nepalese delegation, led by its Home Minister Govinda Raj Joshi, is in Bhutan in the latest of many attempts to resolve the refugee dispute between them.

The two countries disagree over the status of nearly a-hundred thousand ethnic Nepalese refugees from Bhutan who are living in camps in Nepal.

Nepal says the refugees are Bhutanese nationals and it must take them back.

Bhutan denies this, saying fewer than a-third hold Bhutanese citizenship.

Nepal and the leaders of the refugees want United Nations involvement in resolving the issue, but Bhutan wants it settled bilaterally.

Correspondents say that while the two countries may have resumed ministerial-level talking after more than two years, there's no indication that they're any nearer a breaktrhough.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Thursday, September 16, 1999 Published at 16:27 GMT 17:27 UK
World: South Asia
No agreement on Nepal refugees

The argument is over how many refugees are Bhutanese citizens
By Sushil Sharma in Kathmandu

Nepal and Bhutan have failed to reach an agreement to resolve the nine-year old problem of Nepal-based refugees who say they are Bhutanese citizens.

The first formal talks between the two foreign ministers in three and a half years focused on the issue of verification of the refugees.

At the end of the talks on Thursday, both the Nepalese foreign minister, Ram Sharan Mahat, and his Bhutanese counterpart Jigme Thinley, spoke of what they described as progress in narrowing down differences.

Progress on verification

Mr Mahat said that progress had been made on a mechanism for refugee verification, but added that the two sides are still far from arriving at a concrete solution.

Further talks are scheduled for November when the Nepalese foreign minister visits Bhutan.

Seven rounds of talks in the past have failed over the differences on verification of refugees.

Camps

Nepal says all refugees living in camps in eastern Nepal are Bhutanese citizens and that they have the right to return to Bhutan.

Bhutan disagrees.

It says that only a few thousand of them are Bhutanese and that it cannot allow the rest to return.

One hundred thousand refugees have been living in camps run with the assistance of the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, for the past nine years.

The refugees say they were forced to flee Bhutan in the wake of ethnic cleansing and political repression - an allegation Bhutan denies.

Wednesday, January 27, 1999 Published at 15:36 GMT
World: South Asia
Pro-democracy demo in Bhutan

The police in Bhutan say they have broken up a pro-democracy demonstration in the kingdom's southern town of Phuentsoling.

A spokesman for the pro-democracy groups said a number of demonstrators had been severely beaten up by police and nearly fifty people had been arrested.

There is no word on arrests from the police.

Bhutan has recently introduced political reforms to ensure what it describes as a more participatory form of government.

Pro-democracy groups says these changes are largely cosmetic.

They are calling for a parliamentary form of government with a constitutional monarchy.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Thursday, January 28, 1999 Published at 10:50 GMT
World: South Asia
Refugee rally 'smashed'

Campaigners say the monarchy is still the only source of power

Bhutanese refugee leaders have protested about police breaking up a pro-democracy rally on Wednesday in the southern town of Phuntsholing.

They say that more than 70 demonstrators were seriously injured and another 50 deported to Nepal via India, despite requests to Delhi not to allow the expulsions.

Bhutan confirmed that police action took place, but denied that any of the protesters sustained serious injuries.

The government has said it was well within its rights to push back the refugees, who it described as troublemakers from across the border.

Refugees try to return

Last week, police in the Indian state of West Bengal arrested 261 refugees who were trying to march back into Phuntsholing from their camps in eastern Nepal.

Bhutanese pro-democracy spokesman CB Dhahal said 50-60 Bhutanese refugees, who had evaded the Indian police dragnet last week joined Wednesday's demonstration, which involved around 300 people.

He told the BBC that 50 of the demonstrators were deported to Nepal via India with the help of the Indian police.

"We strongly protest and deplore this deportation because they are Bhutanese," he said.

Calling for reform

Bhutan has recently introduced political reforms to ensure what it describes as a more participatory form of government.

But pro-democracy groups have said these changes are largely cosmetic. They say the minority continues to retain the real social power in the Himalayan kingdom.

Bhutan is an absolute monarchy with no written constitution.

Activists are calling for a parliamentary form of government with a constitutional monarchy.

They also want Bhutan to take back the thousands of refugees, mostly of Nepali origin, who left Bhutan earlier in the decade complaining of ethnic persecution.

Bhutan says the real number of the refugees is less than one-third the number claimed by their leaders.

In December last year, Bhutan's pro-democracy groups decided to unite.

Stepping up the campaign

Rongthong Kinley Torji, who led one of the groups, the Druk National Congress, was given the leadership of the unified movement for democracy.

He says it has been decided to organise demonstrations inside Bhutan, and at the same time lead the tens of thousands of Bhutanese refugees now in Nepal back to Bhutan.

Bilateral dialogues between Bhutan and Nepal to find a solution to the refugee problem have failed, and India has refused to accept the request of refugee leaders to mediate.

Delhi says the refugee problem is a bilateral problem between Bhutan and Nepal better solved by them. But it has made it clear that no dissident activity against Bhutan's royal government will be tolerated on the Indian side of the border.

Wednesday, April 8, 1998 Published at 15:14 GMT 16:14 UK
World: S/W Asia
Bhutanese refugees urge release of Dorji

A group of refugees in Nepal have submitted a petition to the Indian embassy calling for the release of the Bhutanese pro-democracy leader, Rongthong Kuenley Dorji.

Mr Dorji, the chairman of the United Front for Democracy in Bhutan, has been held in prison in Delhi since he was arrested a year ago while trying to mobilise support in India for his movement.

The Bhutanese government wants India to extradite him so that he can face charges of embezzlement.

The refugees' petition says that Mr Dorji's health is deteriorating and that he should be released on humanitarian grounds.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Tuesday, February 10, 1998 Published at 22:24 GMT
 
Charles meets ruler of Bhutan

Prince Charles's visit to Nepal included trekking and visits to Buddhist temples.

Prince Charles has met King Jigme Singye Wangchuk of Bhutan at a ceremony marking the start of his four-day visit to the Himalayan kingdom, the first to Bhutan by a British royal.

He was escorted around an 18th century Buddhist citadel and monastery, Tashichho Dzong, meaning Fortress of the Auspicious Religion, by dancers, musicians and chanting monks.

The kingdom's ruler greeted Prince Charles at the fortress, which is also the seat of government.

King Jigme Singwe Wangchuck rules over Bhutan, a monarchy without a written constitution, where everyday life has changed little in centuries.

The British-educated king strives to maintain his country's cultural purity.

Nation in a time-warp

Television and blue jeans, among other things, are banned, archery is the national pastime and minstrels wander the countryside. Bhutan was not opened to foreign tourists until 1974 and mass tourism remains forbidden.

Prince Charles arrived in Bhutan after official visits to Nepal and Sri Lanka, where he took part in the country's 50th anniversary celebrations.

His engagements there will be mainly trekking and sightseeing.

In addition to a tour of Jigme Dorji Wangchuk National Park, the prince is to visit the Bhutanese Institute of Traditional Medicine and have lunch with the king at Dechenchholing Palace, the residence of Bhutan's Queen Mother

Representatives of Bhutan's United Democratic Front (UDF) and the Appeal Movement Co-ordinating Council (AMCC) presented a petition to the prince on behalf of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal.

The human rights organisation, Amnesty International, said in January that the Bhutanese authorities had arrested and ill-treated scores of pro-democracy activists.

Saturday, November 22, 1997 Published at 13:32 GMT
World: South Asia
UN food aid for Bhutanese refugees

The United Nations World Food Programme has approved nearly eight-million dollars in food aid next year for Bhutanese refugees in Nepal.

The aid package, which is designed to help more than ninety-three-thousand people. was drawn up after a mission visited the refugees in seven camps in southern Nepal last May.

The package envisages special treatment for children, expectant mothers, the sick and the elderly.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
 

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