Nepal has conveyed to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Nepal, Carolin Spannuth Verma, that it wanted to manage the Bhutanese refugee issue in a timely manner.

According to a report in The Himalayan Times, Nepali Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli held a meeting with the UN representative on Thursday to seek a time-bound solution. The country is currently home to around 40,000 refugees, mainly Nepali-speaking Bhutanese nationals.

Around 1990, close to 90,000 Bhutanese refugees had fled to Nepal and India when tensions escalated between the Nepali-speaking Lhotshampa (southerners) community and the Bhutanese government over their citizenship rights. 

The government’s first priority is to make a dignified return of these refugees back to Bhutan, Oli told the UN representative during his meeting. Another option of relocating them to third countries is also on the table, he said.

He also thanked the UN for assistance and hoped for continued support to manage the refugees in his country, noted a press statement released by the government. The US assured its help in this regard.