Nepal and Bhutan to resume talks on refugees

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Nepal and Bhutan agreed on Friday to resume negotiations on the repatriation of Bhutanese refugees who fled their homeland two decades ago.

The announcement came after Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigmi Y. Thinley met with his Nepalese counterpart Jhalanath Khanal in the Nepal capital, Kathmandu.

"Both sides have agreed to resume talks," said Milan Tuladhar, a foreign affairs adviser to Nepal's Prime Minister.

"The date (for the resumption of talks) will be decided through diplomatic channels," Tuladhar added.

The refugees are all ethnic Nepalese who left Bhutan in the early 1990s, claiming ethnic and political persecution after Bhutan made national dress compulsory and banned the Nepalese language.

Bhutan claims the refugees were illegal immigrants, while the refugees insist they are Bhutanese citizens.

In 2003, Bhutan broke off its discussions with Nepal over the issue after it alleged its representative was attacked while verifying refugees at one of seven UN refugee camps in Southeastern Nepal.

Out of a total 110,000 Bhutanese refugees, some 40,000 have left the camps under third-country resettlement schemes, with the majority going to the United States.

Thinley was slated to leave Nepal on Saturday.