By Sushil Sharma in Kathmandu
A senior US official has urged Nepal and Bhutan to work
for a speedy resolution of the Bhutanese refugee problem.
The US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia,
Karl Inderfurth, expressed the hope that the two countries
would reach an agreement at the next ministerial talks
later this month.
The Nepali-speaking migrants fled, or left southern
Bhutan, over the last 10 years, and now number 100,000.
Mr Inderfurth arrived in Nepal on Friday on the third
leg of his four-nation South Asian tour.
Mr Inderfurth is accompanied by the Assistant Secretary
for Population, Refugees and Migration, Julia Taft.
The two US officials met the Nepalese Prime Minister,
Girija Prasad Koirala, and other officials.
Mr Inderfurth said that the United States attached
great importance to the early resolution of the refugee
problem.
He told a news conference in the Nepalese capital,
Kathmandu, that the Bhutanese refugee problem is one of
the unfinished issues on the agenda of the outgoing
Clinton administration.
New proposal
Speaking to journalists later, Ms Taft said that she
had presented a new proposal for verifying that
nationality of refugees allowed back into Bhutan.
She said that Nepal has endorsed it and hoped that
Bhutan would also respond positively.
Both US officials will leave Nepal for Bhutan on
Monday.
The talks between Nepal and Bhutan on repatriation of
the refugees have failed due to the differences on the
method of verification of the refugees.
Nepal says all 1,000 refugees living in camps in
eastern Nepal are Bhutanese and that they have the right
to return home.
Bhutan says only some of the refugees are genuine
Bhutanese citizens, and refuses to take back any others.
Many of the refugees say they were forcibly driven out
of Bhutan.
