JOHN NARAYAN PARAJULI
SWANSEA, DEC 03 - Dozens of Bhutanese refugees resettled in Europe are scheduled to protest against Thimpu’s atrocities against ethnic minorities in front of the UN office in Geneva on Friday. Bhutan presents its human rights report for Universal Periodic Review (UPR) before the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva.
The refugees say they will submit reports on Thimpu’s continuing violation of human rights to the Council’s working group on UPR.
Bhutan’s own human right report submitted for review makes no mention of refugees. However, the OHCHR report expresses concern over discrimination of people of Nepali origin.
“This is an international forum and we don’t want to give Bhutan a free pass,” said Ram Bahadur Karki Chettri, one of the organisers of the protest. He hopes this review will begin the accounting process of Bhutan’s human rights.
Under UPR, the Council is mandated to review the rights record of all member-states every four years. The rights situation is assessed on the basis of the national human rights report prepared by member-states, reports of independent rights bodies and information and testimonies provided by all stakeholders including non-governmental organisations.
Bhutan is likely to defend its record highlighting the recent stride from absolute monarchy to a democracy. Thimpu is sending a 12-member delegation.
The refugee delegation, meanwhile, says it will draw the Council’s attention to the disfranchisement of 80,000 citizens still inside Bhutan during the 2008 parliamentary elections on grounds of ethnicity. They argue that Bhutanese of Nepali origin still inside Bhutan will be forcefully evicted if the world doesn’t speak up now.
More than 20,000 Bhutanese refugees have been resettled in Western countries so far, out of which more than 600 are in Europe. About 90,000 still remain in refugee camps in Nepal
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Showing posts with label Geneva. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Geneva. Show all posts
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Exiled Bhutanese to protest in Geneva
Exiled Bhutanese to protest in Geneva
Posted on 01 December 2009 by Editor
By Tej Man Rayaka, Germany
Dec 1: When Bhutan is scheduled to present its human rights report to the Human Rights Council for the sixth session on Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, dozens of resettled Bhutanese and their fellow-asylees in the European countries of Germany, Norway, Holland, Denmark are demonstrating in front of the United Nations main building on December 4.
The demonstration is organized to make the statement on behalf of more than one hundred thousand Bhutanese languishing in Eastern Nepal since 19 years and a few thousands resettled under the present resettlement scheme, said a statement issued by Durga Giri from Germany on behalf of the Bhutanese delegation.
The delegation will also distribute report from the perspective of human rights violation in Bhutan to delegates from 47 participating countries in the meeting.
The event will focus on the denial of the right to adult franchise of more than 80,000 Bhutanese citizens inside Bhutan in the last election of 2008. These citizens are likely to receive regime’s planned eviction in the near future unless the attention of the International community is timely drawn, statement said.
Likewise, the Bhutanese delegation will also raise concern regarding gross national happiness, which is not meant for citizens but just for those who are in power
“Such happiness is meant in the holistic slogan, not in reality,” the statement mentioned.
The group will also hold separate meetings with the representatives of Geneva based UN Refugee Agency, International Organization for Migration and core group countries prior to their demonstration.
We will discuss the issues of delayed cases of families which have declared their interest to get relocated, said Giri in the statement.
Source: BNS
Posted on 01 December 2009 by Editor
By Tej Man Rayaka, Germany
Dec 1: When Bhutan is scheduled to present its human rights report to the Human Rights Council for the sixth session on Universal Periodic Review in Geneva, dozens of resettled Bhutanese and their fellow-asylees in the European countries of Germany, Norway, Holland, Denmark are demonstrating in front of the United Nations main building on December 4.
The demonstration is organized to make the statement on behalf of more than one hundred thousand Bhutanese languishing in Eastern Nepal since 19 years and a few thousands resettled under the present resettlement scheme, said a statement issued by Durga Giri from Germany on behalf of the Bhutanese delegation.
The delegation will also distribute report from the perspective of human rights violation in Bhutan to delegates from 47 participating countries in the meeting.
The event will focus on the denial of the right to adult franchise of more than 80,000 Bhutanese citizens inside Bhutan in the last election of 2008. These citizens are likely to receive regime’s planned eviction in the near future unless the attention of the International community is timely drawn, statement said.
Likewise, the Bhutanese delegation will also raise concern regarding gross national happiness, which is not meant for citizens but just for those who are in power
“Such happiness is meant in the holistic slogan, not in reality,” the statement mentioned.
The group will also hold separate meetings with the representatives of Geneva based UN Refugee Agency, International Organization for Migration and core group countries prior to their demonstration.
We will discuss the issues of delayed cases of families which have declared their interest to get relocated, said Giri in the statement.
Source: BNS
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