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NEWS: European Parliament and Bhutanese refugees - 11 September,2000
EU) EP/NEPAL: EP calls for an initiative over return of Bhutanese refugeesfrom Nepal
Strasbourg, 11/09/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament, in denouncing the deplorable situation of the roughly 98,000 Nepalese speaking
refugees from Bhutan which are located in seven camps in Eastern Nepal, adopted a resolution by several political groups and members of the Bonino
list inviting the governments of Bhutan and Nepal to reach an agreement that would allow these refugees to rapidly and voluntarily return to their homes.
The EP welcomes the prospect of a meeting between the Prime Ministers of the two countries in New York, where they also met Mrs Ogata, UN High
Commissioner for Refugees, and underlined the "extreme good will" of Nepal, which hosts these refugees, who have "in a manner been deprived
of their human rights for the last eight years".
Commissioner Poul Nielson said he spoke with representatives of the two governments concerned, who seemed to him to be serious in their desire to
finally find a solution. The EU, which has already granted aid of EUR 11 million to refugees and intends to grant them an additional EUR 1.5 million,in the near future.
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