05 August 2004	Thursday	18 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

KATHMANDU: Bhutan's Prime Minister Jigmi Yoesar Thinley has agreed that the process of repatriating Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal should be resumed, Nepalese Premier Sher Bahadur Deuba said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters on his return from a regional summit in Bangkok, Deuba said he had discussed with Thinley the refugee issue on the sidelines of the meeting of the seven-nation BIMSTEC group.

Thinley, he said, had agreed that Joint Verification Team meetings should be resumed "to help the repatriation of the first group of Bhutanese living in Jhapa" refugee camp, in southeastern Nepal.

The team consists of the two countries' officials who have been assessing the citizenship claims of those living in the camps. Some 100,000 Bhutanese refugees, mostly Hindus of Nepalese origin, are staying in seven camps in southeastern Nepal after leaving Bhutan in 1990 when the Buddhist kingdom launched cultural reforms encouraging the use of the Bhutan's language and national dress.

Their repatriation has been in limbo after Bhutanese officials were attacked at a camp in December. The crowd threw stones after the verification team told some 300 refugees they had to meet some conditions for repatriation, including proof they were not engaged in activities against Bhutan, an official said.

Bhutan, which denies having an anti-Hindu agenda, had long contended that most of the refugees left voluntarily. But after criticism by the United States and some European countries, Bhutan in October agreed to take back 12,183 refugees. -AFP