Nepal hosted an estimated 129,000 refugees (109,000 Bhutanese and 20,000 Tibetan) at the end of 2000. A large majority, 99,000, lived in seven refugee camps in eastern Nepal. The remainder lived among the local population.

During the year, 46 Bhutanese sought asylum in Nepal. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) adjudicated their claims as well as those of eight Bhutanese who arrived in Nepal in 1999. UNHCR recognized 34 as refugees and rejected the claims of 16 others. Two persons' claims were still pending at year's end. Nepal did not deport the 16 whom UNHCR rejected.

Most of the estimated 20,000 Tibetan refugees in Nepal have been there since 1959. During 2000, 2,637 Tibetans reportedly entered Nepal and continued on to India – 2,319 of them with UNHCR assistance.

Another 27 persons of various nationalities, primarily from South Asia and the Middle East, sought asylum in Nepal during the year. UNHCR recognized 6 as refugees and rejected 11. At year's end, UNHCR was still considering the claims of 10 of the others.

Refugees from Bhutan

The Bhutanese refugees are Lhotsampa, ethnic Nepalese Hindus from southern Bhutan. They fled what they termed ethnic cleansing at the hands of the Bhutanese government, which primarily represents the country's majority Buddhist Drupka population.

Most of the refugees live in seven UNHCR-assisted camps in the Jhapa and Morang districts of eastern Nepal. Others (both registered and unregistered) live outside the camps. UNHCR does not assist refugees outside the camps. Some of the non-camp refugees originally settled in the camps, but subsequently left to live with relatives or friends or to find work (although Nepal does not officially permit refugees to work). Others never lived in the camps.

The Nepalese Home Ministry registers newly arrived refugees before permitting them to move into the camps. Over the years, the refugees have had primary responsibility for running camp schools, operating the health facilities, distributing food, and maintaining the water supply. UNHCR and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) continue to help the refugees move toward self-sufficiency.

On December 5, 2000, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Julia V. Taft, and Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs Karl F. Inderfuth were in Nepal and raised concerns about the Bhutanese refugee crisis. This prompted the Bhutanese and Nepalese governments, in late December 2000, to enter their tenth round of talks on repatriation of the Bhutanese refugees. The talks were accompanied by peaceful demonstrations by Bhutanese refugees, who sought direct representation in the discussions.

By year's end, the two governments had signed an agreement to establish a ten-member Joint Verification Team that would classify the Bhutanese refugees into four categories: "bona fide" refugees; Bhutanese forcefully evicted; Bhutanese who left voluntarily; or emigrants/non-Bhutanese and Bhutanese who committed crimes. The team had not agreed on the verification procedures by year's end, and concerns about the time frame for interviews, transparency, and decision-making authority cast doubts on the feasibility of the process. Nevertheless, the United States and the European Union welcomed the efforts of both countries to settle the long-standing refugee problem in Nepal.

Bhutanese refugees protested their lack of representation at the talks. They had requested that a well-known ethnic Nepalese Bhutanese, Tek Nath Rizal, be permitted to represent them, but the Bhutanese government refused this request. Rizal, a former advisor to the king, fled Bhutan in 1989 after criticizing the king's decision to strip ethnic Nepalese of their Bhutanese citizenship. Rizal sought refuge in Nepal, but the Nepalese authorities arrested and extradited him back to Bhutan, where he was sentenced to life in prison. He was released from prison at the end of 1999.

In 2000, Bhutanese refugees in Nepal again asserted their desire to repatriate by crossing through northern India and trying to re-enter Bhutan. In April, about 100 refugees reached Phuntsholing, just inside Bhutan, but Bhutanese authorities immediately arrested and deported them. The Bhutanese detained the refugees' leader, N.L. Katuwal, and reportedly tortured him before releasing him.

Refugees from Tibet

The approximately 20,000 officially registered Tibetan refugees in Nepal include people who fled to Nepal from Tibet between 1959 and 1989 and children born to them before 1989. Beginning in 1989, Nepal stopped registering Tibetan refugees and no longer allowed newly arrived refugees to remain. Most of the refugees (around 12,000) live in a settlement in Kathmandu's Bouddhanath District. The remainder live in Pokhara, Baglung, Mustang, Taplejung, Manang, Rasuwa, Solukhumbu, and Lalipur.

In 2000, Nepalese authorities and UNHCR agreed to change the existing one-page travel document for Tibetan refugees to a passport-style document that will be accepted by most countries. The new passport system was to be implemented beginning in January 2001.

On March 10, the 41st anniversary of Tibetans' failed uprising against Chinese rule (which led to the exile of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama), more than 1,000 Tibetans demonstrated in Kathmandu. Nepalese police clashed with the demonstrators after preventing them from leaving the Buddhist Boudhanath Temple to go to the Chinese embassy. The incident left 25 demonstrators seriously injured.

During 2000, Tibetan refugees continued to flee to India through Nepal at an average rate of 200 persons per month. Most fled human rights abuses by Chinese authorities in Tibet. The refugees sought to reach India, home to a large Tibetan exile community and to the Dalai Lama.

UNHCR reported that there have been tighter border controls between China and Nepal since December 1999. The tightening followed the escape from Tibet of Ugyen Thinley Dorje, the 17th Karmapala Lama and the third most powerful figure in Tibetan Buddhism. Chinese leaders were grooming Dorje as a potential successor to the Dalai Lama. UNHCR reported that the stricter border controls were hampering its missions to the area.

The Nepalese authorities generally permit Tibetans to enter Nepal and direct them to a Tibetan-run transit center in Kathmandu. There they receive medical and psychosocial services, and UNHCR provides them travel assistance to continue their journey to India.

However, during 2000, Nepalese authorities arrested some 200 Tibetans for entering the country illegally (without valid documents) and sent them to immigration officials before transferring them to UNHCR. The Tibetans were then permitted to proceed to India.

In October, Nepalese authorities detained 24 Tibetans who entered Nepal via Solukhumbu in the east of the country because they carried no valid travel documents. The police reportedly opened fire on them after the group tried to escape while being transported to the immigration office in Kathmandu. One person died and five sustained injuries.

The London-based Tibetan Information Network received unofficial reports that Nepalese authorities returned to the Chinese police at least 60 Tibetan refugees in December. Nepalese officials denied the allegation.

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