Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-09-07-Speech-4-161"
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"en.20000907.7.4-161"2
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"Mr President, earlier this year, I had the honour to be part of a delegation from the European Parliament to New Delhi and Nepal. Arising from our visit and in particular our visit to the refugee camps in eastern Nepal, the delegation gave a commitment that they would do everything possible to raise the issue of the continuing plight of the Bhutanese refugees in Nepal.
I would like to assure the Members of the House that the refugees are fully aware of, and greatly value and appreciate, the earlier efforts of the European Parliament in drawing attention to their situation. This was clearly demonstrated to us during our visit to the region, and our resolve to continue to encourage an agreement now between Bhutan and Nepal is as strong as ever.
The influx of Bhutanese refugees into Nepal began in late 1991 and the fear of diminishing international attention, therefore, is always present. The refugees have been waiting for the last ten years for an amicable and permanent solution to the crisis. As Ms McCarthy has said – very many of them want to go home. There have been numerous bilateral talks but so far a final political settlement has not been secured.
In New York, the United Nations Millennium Summit is taking place as we speak and it offers the Prime Ministers of Bhutan and Nepal an opportunity to come together and to demonstrate their commitment to the ideas of peace and tolerance by agreeing to an early solution to the problem of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. This would be a fitting way to mark the UN's Millennium Summit. I hope they will be given every encouragement to do so.
One of the crucial issues to be decided is the definition of the family unit for verification purposes. Nepal has accepted a compromise put forward by the UNHCR who has been playing an important role in seeking to help to resolve the impasse. I strongly urge the Bhutanese authorities to accept the compromise so that field verification can begin immediately.
While the European Union remains one of the major donors, both the UNHCR and the World Food Programme are finding it increasingly difficult to raise funds to run the refugee camps. I would urge international donors to continue to make sufficient funds available to permit the running of the camps during the negotiation and the verification process. At the same time, I would expect the donors to insist that the Bhutanese Government facilitate a rapid repatriation of the refugees. I very much welcome the news conveyed to the House by Ms McCarthy of the generosity of the Japanese people in this particular respect.
We were assured that bilateral negotiations would be speedily concluded and that actual verification in the camps would begin last July. That agreement regrettably is still outstanding. I therefore reiterate once more our appeal to all those concerned to take the necessary political initiatives to achieve a lasting solution to the unacceptable plight of the Bhutanese refugees, of whom over 17 000 have been born in the camps."@en1
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