Foreign Minister Madhav Prasad Ghimire had a meeting with United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres in Geneva on Thursday and appreciated the role played by the UNHCR in providing the upkeep and maintenance of the Bhutanese refugees in Nepal.

Reiterating Nepal’s commitment to finding a solution to the problem, the minister underlined that lasting solution lies in voluntary and safe repatriation of the refugees to their homeland with dignity and honour, said a statement issued by the Nepali embassy in Geneva. He reiterated that Nepal has always respected the rights of refugees on humanitarian grounds.

While expressing thanks to Nepal for generously hosting a large number of refugees for a long period of time, the High Commissioner for Refugees appreciated the cooperation of the government of Nepal in finding a durable solution to the problem. He also concurred that voluntary repatriation is the best solution. Contemporary refugee issues and cooperation between Nepal and UNHCR on refugee-related matters were also discussed.

Earlier in the day, Ghimire participated in the thematic debate on the contribution of the ECOSOC to the elaboration of the Post 2015 Development Agenda in Geneva organised in connection with the on-going High-level Segment of the Substantive Session of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations.

Ghimire had underlined that in view of the special situations of the Least Developed Countries, their concerns and interests should receive priority attention in the post-2015 agenda. Global development agenda without taking the issues of LDCs on board will remain not only incomplete and inequitable but also morally unjustifiable, he added. He also focused on some important dimensions for the urgent consideration by the ECOSOC that have direct bearings on LDCs and land-locked developing countries.

Published on: 6 July | The Kathmandu Post