Nepal mulls citizenship for Bhutanese refugees

The foreign ministers of Nepal and Bhutan held talks in Kathmandu last week that had been expected to finalize repatriation for at least some of the 100,000 refugees, but instead they agreed only to hold more negotiations in August in Thimphu.

In the fine print, however, for the first time Nepal has agreed to give some of the refugees citizenship.

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The state-run Bhutanese newspaper Kuensel reported that those who "emigrated" to Nepal and "who do not wish to return to Bhutan, will be given the option to apply for Nepalese citizenship in accordance with the laws of the kingdom of Nepal."

The refugees are predominantly Hindus of Nepalese origin who left in the early 1990s as Bhutan instituted reforms they say obliged them to wear the Buddhist kingdom's dress and use its language.

At the heart of the dispute is whether they were forced out. Bhutan, which denies any anti-Hindu agenda, has agreed to repatriate all who were forcibly evicted but contends that most of the refugees left voluntarily.

Ratan Gazmere, a Nepal-based activist for the Bhutanese refugees, said it was a "black day" if some of the Bhutanese would not be returning home.

He called on the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which administers the seven refugee camps in southern Nepal, to intervene in the negotiations "and stop a crisis."