Bhutanese asylum seekers agitating for refugee rights Friday decided to call off their ongoing sit-in protest from tomorrow. They had initiated relay hunger strike in all seven refugee camps in Jhapa since last Monday.
In a meeting with Chief District Officer (CDO) of Jhapa, Yadav Prasad Koirala, the agitating Bhutanese agreed to withdraw their sit-in for the next 15 days.
Submitting a memorandum to the district administration, asylum seekers demanded official registration for refugee status and facilities in the camps.
Earlier today, struggle committee members and seven camp secretaries met the CDO and submitted a 10-point demand paper for ending the strike as requested by the district administration.
According to Bhutan News Service (BNS), a refugee-run news service, Jhapa CDO communicated to the delegation that he had already notified the ministry of home affairs regarding their demands and concerns.
"I have notified the government regarding your concerns," BNS quoted CDO Koirala as saying, "We are trying to verify the pending cases immediately."
The agitating Bhutanese told the government representative that they would rather choose to die in hunger than to wait for several months to get registered.
We are told that the government will soon initiate the verification to decide our status, Nandu Paudel of the struggle committee said. "We have given an ultimatum of 15 days to address our concerns," he added.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), around 3,000 asylum seekers from Bhutan are without registration.
From:Nepalnews
