1 TRANSLATION OF THE PROCEEDINGS AND ... - APFA News

2. The hon’ble members are aware of the agreement signed between
Bhutan and Nepal on the categorization of 98,897 people living in the
camps in eastern Nepal, out of which 1,3000 are children born in the
camps, into four categories.
3. All the people living in the camps have continuously claimed to be
Bhutanese refugees. However, since Bhutan cannot be responsible for all
of them, it is important to separate them into the four agreed categories.
Therefore, if the process of verification of people into four categories is
not begun, there will not only be risk of more problems and difficulties,
but the problem can never be resolved.
The Foreign Minister reminded the members that, as reported in the 73 rd Session
of the National Assembly, an agreement had been signed between the two
countries on the mechanism for joint verification during the Third Ministerial
Joint Committee (MJC) held in 1994. The joint verification process was ready
but due to some differences on certain issues, the actual process of verification
could not be started immediately. During the 9 th MJC held in Thimphu from
22 nd to 25 th April 2000 and the 10 th MJC held in Kathmandu from 24 th to 28 th
December 2000, the two sides were not only able to resolve the earlier
differences, but also agreed on a comprehensive mechanism for joint
verification.
The Minister informed the house that the main basis of the Joint Verification
Mechanism was that the Joint Verification Team will first verify one camp out
of the total of nine camps, on a trial basis, after which the verified people would
be classified under the four agreed categories. In case of any differences, the
two teams will try to resolve them as far as possible between themselves.
However, if the two teams are not able to resolve the differences, the Foreign
Secretaries and the Home Secretaries of the two countries will consult each
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