Damak, April 12:

The Bhutanese refugees living in different camps in Jhapa and Morang are feeling insecure due to increasing criminal activities in the camps.

Refugees said that an abduction scare spread in the camps after a refugee Parshu Ram Dahal of Timai camp in Jhapa was abducted by an unidentified group a few days ago. Dahal was released on Monday and he is taking shelter in the Damak-based office of the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) since yesterday. He declined to elaborate why he was kidnapped or how he was treated by the kidnappers.

In another incident on Tuesday night, secretary of the Beldangi-2 camp at Damak Hari Bangale managed to evade the attack of unidentified armed assailants. Bangale said he was returning to the camp from Damak on a motorcycle when a group of armed men tried to stop him at Beldangi Road. “I revved up the motorcycle and fled. The group, however, did not fire at me even though one was carrying a gun,” he said. He added that the internal security system of the camps was weak.

Also, there are differences between two different groups of refugees — one that supports third country resettlement and the other that supports repatriation. The refugees belonging to these groups are said to be involved in attacking members of the rival group.

Coordinator of the Beldangi camp security committee Bal Ram Subedi said, “The security situation in the camps has worsened because of the dispute between the two sides.” The committee is responsible for controlling criminal activities and settling the disputes inside the camp. Subedi said that the security situation of the refugee camps has worsened also due to lack of adequate police force in the camps.

Meanwhile, the Bhutan Communist Party (Maoist) has stepped up its activities in the camps. The Bhutanese Maoists are involved in intimidating and threatening the refugees, said refugees, adding that they mostly threaten those refugees who support the third country resettlement option.

Census for ‘out-camp’ refugees

Kathmandu: The UNHCR on Thursday said it would be conducting census for the “out-camp” Bhutanese refugees on April 20 at Khudunabari camp in Jhapa. This means those refugees who were not present during the census carried out last month would be registered.

The UNHCR said that two extra days of grace period have been scheduled for each camp.

The UNHCR, in a statement today, published a schedule for those “out of camp” refugees for registration. While refugees of the Goldhap camp are asked to register at Khudunabari camp on April 23 and 24, refugees at the Timai camps are asked to register on April 25-26.The UNHCR has also asked the Khudunabari camp refugees to register themselves on Apri 27-28, while May 2-3 has been fixed for Beldagi I refugees. The refugees at the Beldangi II are asked to register on May 4 and 7, of Bledangi II (extension) on May 8-9 and of the Sanischare camps on May 10-11. — HNS