24 May 2006
Nepalese to resume issuing travel documents
(eKantipur.com) The Nepalese government is to resume issuing travel documents to Tibetan and Bhutanese refugees, who have been sheltering in Nepal under the aegis of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) spokesperson Yadav Khanal said that MoFA would issue travel documents to the refugees, allowing them to go abroad, at the recommendation of the Home Ministry. Hundreds of transiting Tibetans have been stuck in Kathmandu as the erstwhile government took an “unofficial” decision in October 2005 not to issue them exit permits. A member of the Tibetan refugee community in Nepal said: "All Tibetans in transit believe that the democratic government will not repeat what the erstwhile government had done". He also appealed to the government to allow them to reopen the Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office (TRWO), which was closed by the then government on 21 January 2005 on the charge of operating without registering with the government. However, a government official said, "We will resume the service of issuing travel documents and exit permits promptly after receiving consent from MoFA, but it may not be possible to allow them to reopen TRWO without its being registered".