12 March, the United Nations Committee which deals with racial discrimination, expressed concern about forced explusion of Tibetan refugees by the Government of Nepal. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) made the observation after considering the fifteeth and the sixteenth periodic reports of Nepal on 4 and 5 March, during its sixty-fourth session at Palais Wilson in Geneva, the building which is the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
On 4 March while discussing the reports submitted by Nepal several experts spoke about the situation of Tibetan refugees although the Nepalese reports and the verbal presentation by the Nepalese delegation avoided references to Tibetan refugees.
CERD while issuing the “concluding observation” on Nepal said that it was concerned that “only Tibetans who arrived in Nepal before 1990″ are recognised as refugees by the Nepalese authorities…and by recent information of forced explusion of Tibetan refugees.”
While also expressing concern at the absence of legislative protection for refugeess and asylum-seekers, CERD urged Nepal “to enact relevant legislation, and to ratify itnernational instruments relating to the protection of refugees…encourages greater interaction with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.”
While CERD also urged the Nepalese authorities to provide information on measures taken on refugee protection, NGOs are now calling on the 60th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, to adopt a resolution on Nepal in lights of the present human rights situation in the country.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination had last scrutinised Nepal’s compliance to the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination in the year 2000. Nepal’s next report to this Committee is due on 1 March 2008.