Though he did not say why there was a significant fall in the number, he said the UN agency will continue to protect and assist the Tibetans in visiting a third country.

 

During his four-day visit, Aleinikoff also toured two Bhutanese refugee camps in Jhapa and the Tibetan Reception Centre in Kathmandu.

 

He said there are no plans for a third country resettlement for the Tibetan refugees.

UNHCR facilitates the safe transit of Tibetans to India and ensures their material needs in Nepal.According to the UN refugee agency, there are two types of Tibetan refugees in Nepal—those who came before 1990 and those who arrived here after that.

 

Approximately 15,000 Tibetan refugees arrived in Nepal before 1990. They are allowed to remain in the country. As most of them remained undocumented, their rights in Nepal are limited, the agency said. 

 

The UNHCR has also been advocating for a comprehensive registration process and issuance of identity documents.

 

According to Aleinikoff, 48,640 of the 107,000 Bhutanese refugees remain in Nepal. “Ninety percent of that 48,640 who are now languishing in various refugees camps in eastern Nepal have shown interest for third country settlement,” he said. As part of the third country settlement, the US has taken in 54,741 Bhutanese refugees, Canada 4,663, Australia 3,4,46, New Zealand 652, Denmark 617, Norway 507, Netherlands 324 and the UK 224.

 

The UN agency also expressed concern over 800,000 individuals in Nepal who do not have citizen certificates.

 

In 1995, a government-sponsored Dhanapati Commission had concluded that approximately 3.4 million Nepalis lack citizenship certificates. Later in 2007, around 2.6 million certificates were distributed. The estimate of 800,000 was arrived at by deducting 2.6 million from the original estimated figure of 3.4 million.