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Bhutan refugees in border clash | Bhutan refugees in border clash |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Thousands of Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal have tried to cross into the Indian state of West Bengal for a second successive day. | |
The refugees are demanding India allow them to go back to Bhutan via West Bengal's border with Nepal. | |
One refugee was killed and more than 20 injured when Indian police fired on them when they tried to enter India. | |
Nepal is home to about 107,000 ethnic Nepalese expelled from Bhutan, which says they are illegal immigrants. | |
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres recently urged the Bhutanese government to repatriate them. | The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres recently urged the Bhutanese government to repatriate them. |
Divided | Divided |
Since Tuesday, thousands of refugees have been trying to cross the Mechi river that marks the border of West Bengal state with Nepal. | Since Tuesday, thousands of refugees have been trying to cross the Mechi river that marks the border of West Bengal state with Nepal. |
Indian police say at least six of their men were injured when the refugees pelted them with stones on Tuesday. | |
Violence has also continued for a third day in some refugee camps in Beldangi in eastern Nepal, where large numbers of Bhutanese refugees oppose UN plans to settle them in Western countries. | |
They beat up some of their own leaders who support third-country settlement in the US, leading to intervention by the Nepal police. | They beat up some of their own leaders who support third-country settlement in the US, leading to intervention by the Nepal police. |
Two refugees were killed in Beldangi when police fired shots over the weekend. | |
After nearly two decades in the camps of Nepal, the Bhutanese refugees are divided. | |
Some accept a future in the West; others are determined to go back and enrol as voters in Bhutan ahead of next year's parliamentary elections in the Himalayan kingdom. | Some accept a future in the West; others are determined to go back and enrol as voters in Bhutan ahead of next year's parliamentary elections in the Himalayan kingdom. |
But India says it is determined to stop them in view of Delhi's cordial relations with Bhutan. | But India says it is determined to stop them in view of Delhi's cordial relations with Bhutan. |
It is one of Asia's most protracted refugee problems. | |
Forgotten by most of the world, the refugees are dependent on UN food rations and officially forbidden to work in Nepal. | |