UN slams foiled bid to repatriate Bhutanese refugees from Nepal

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the Bhutan Gorkha National Liberation Front (BGNLF) had on Wednesday taken the 300, more than half of them children, by bus from Beldangi camp in southeastern Nepal to the Indian border at Kakarbhitta.

The BGNLF, a prominent Bhutanese political party in exile, had intended the buses to continue to Bhutan through India.

"They were prevented from crossing into India by security forces," said the UNHCR's representative in Nepal, Abraham Abraham.

"The UNHCR was not involved in this refugee movement in any way," Abraham said in a statement.

"It's deeply unfortunate that politically motivated individuals feel they can take the lives of refugees into their own hands, giving them false hopes and aspirations," he said.

"Among the group were 160 children, including 40 disabled. Before leaving Beldangi camp, some refugee shelters were destroyed. It appears some refugees had been intimidated to leave the camp," the statement said.

"While we can understand the increasing frustration of Bhutanese refugees about the lack of progress on repatriation made by the governments of Nepal and Bhutan, this attempt to return was bound to fail," Abraham said.

About 100,000 Bhutanese refugees, mostly Hindus of Nepalese origin, are staying in seven camps in southeast Nepal. They left Bhutan in 1990 when the Buddhist kingdom launched cultural reforms encouraging the use of Bhutan's language and national dress.