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COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Sub- Commission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection
of Minorities
Fiftieth session Agenda item 2
QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND
FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS, INCLUDING POLICIES OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND
SEGREGATION, IN ALL COUNTRIES, WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO COLONIAL AND OTHER
DEPENDENT COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES: REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMISSION UNDER
COMMISSION RESOLUTION 8 (XXIII)
Mr. Eide, Mr. Diaz Uribe, Mr.
Fix Zamudio, Ms. Hampson,
Mr. Oloka- Onyango, Mr. Weissbrodt: draft resolution
1998/...The Bhutanese
Refugee
The
Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities,
Recalling
its resolution 1997/31 of 28 August 1997 on the right to return,
1997/29 August 1997 on freedom of movement and population transfer and 1996/9 of
23 August 1996 on the right to freedom of movement,
Concerned
by the plight of the approximately ninety thousand individuals of Nepali
ethnicity, the majority of whom had previously lived in Bhutan, who have been
residing in camps in eastern Nepal for as long as seven years, as well as an
additional ten thousand or more who are living outside the camps in Nepal and
India,
Also
concerned that developments within Bhutan, such as the resettlement of
others upon the lands previously occupied by the refugees, can pre-empt any
durable solution involving voluntary repatriation,
1. Urges all States to respect and promote the right to
return and the right not to be arbitrarily deprived of one's nationality, and to
take appropriate measures to reduce the phenomenon of statelessness,
2. Urges in particular the Governments of Bhutan and
Nepal to negotiate in good faith towards a peaceful solution of the question of
refugees in a concerted effort to make possible the voluntary repatriation of
the refugees to their country of origin without further delay,
3. Encourages, the parties concerned to establish an
impartial verification process and to make more effective and urgent efforts to
negotiate the return of Bhutanese verified to be refugees, so that they can
leave the cams voluntarily and return home in conditions of safety and dignity;
4. Suggests that the Governments involved avail
themselves of technical assistance from the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human rights and the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, so as to facilitate a fair and lasting solution which
takes into principles of international law relating to non-discrimination, the
right to return, the right not to be arbitrarily deprived of one's nationality,
the reduction of statelessness and the fulfillment of economic, social and
cultural rights;
5. Decides to keep this matter under consideration at
its fifty-first session.
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