Kathmandu, September 2:

The media and human rights organisations have an important role in resolving the Bhutanese refugee problem, said speakers at an interaction programme organised by the South Asia Free Media Association, Nepal. Bhutanese Refugees leader Teknath Rizal said that though the international community had looked at the Bhutanese Refugee problem with keen interest, the problem should be resolved through dialogue between Nepal and Bhutan. Bhutan has already accepted that 75 per cent of the refugees are its citizen, Rizal said and lauded the effort made by the media and human rights activists in Nepal towards that end.

Former Minister of State Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat said: As Bhutan has not followed the agreements reached in the past at the government level, media persons should now raise the issue in a planned manner at the international level. Senior journalist Purusottam Dahal said the problem of Bhutanese refugees was not only a problem of Bhutan and Nepal but of the international community and that the media should work towards raising the awareness of the Bhutanese people for the restoration of democracy and human rights in Bhutan.