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