Bhutan Independent People’s Forum formed

KATHMANDU, MAR 22 - Forum to fight for Bhutanese refugees’ cause

KATHMANDU: Bhutanese people in exile have set up a platform called Bhutan Independent Peoples’ Forum to fight for repatriation of those displaced by political repression. The forum, headed by lawyer Tom Adhikari, will have 10-member secretariat and 49-member central committee, the forum said in a statement. It is also mandated to form advisory boards comprising human rights activists and leaders who have been contributing to the movement for dignified return of the people in exile. The forum also announced a sit-in or Satyagraha in Bhutanese Refugee camp in Jhapa to highlight the plight of the refugees. It has also demanded resumption of bilateral talks between Nepal and Bhutan on the matter. Of the 130,000 Bhutanese refugees, around 95,000 have left for third country resettlement, according to the forum. (PR)Source


.........

Bhutan Independent People’s Forum formed

News Updated By- Sudan KC    |   Posted From- Washington DC     |     March 22, 2015

Damak, March 22: An organisation called Bhutan Independent People’s Forum has been constituted in Damak with the objective of spearheading the Bhutanese refugees’ movement. This was announced at a news conference here today. Advocate Tom Adhikari is the president of the 49-member Forum. A 10-member Secretariat Committee has also been formed. It was stated in the news conference that the Forum would function purely as a social organisation to further the justified issues related to the Bhutanese refugees living in camps in eastern Nepal. Forum President Adhikari said the forum would take the necessary initiatives for raising, with priority, the issue of the repatriation of the Bhutanese refugees living in the refugee camps in Nepal and those repatriated to third countries, back to their homeland. The Forum has also drawn the attention of the governments of Nepal and Bhutan and the human rights organisations to the need of prompt resumption of the refugee repatriation process, among various other demands. RSS SOURCE In Nepali: http://m.ujyaaloonline.com/news/42036/bhutani/