Kathmandu, March 17: Representing over one hundred thousand Bhutanese in exile, a four-member delegation of Bhutanese Advocacy Forum Europe (BAF -Europe) has reached Geneva earning this morning to lobby in the 13th Human Right Council meeting in Palis des Nations.
“We have received accreditation into the UN meeting with effect from 17th March until the session on Bhutan concludes,” said Durga Giri over telephone from Germany before leaving to Geneva.
The delegation is scheduled to meet the representatives of member states and appraise about the true human rights situation in the country, and will attend the session on Bhutan which starts at 18.00 hour on March 18.
Issue of Illegal immigrant as raised by the regime on the Bhutanese refugees in the Universal Periodic Review meeting is baseless, Giri said. “Our delegation will draw the attention of the international community to the real political issue of citizenship Act of 1985 which has disenfranchised tens of thousands of southern Bhutanese.”
According to him, the team will lobby the possible international community on issues like establishment of human rights commission, inclusive democracy and governance, release of political prisoners, repatriation of exiled Bhutanese and international aids in Bhutan among others. (Download BAF-Europe appeal to member representatives)
Led by Giri, other members of the delegation included Ram Bahadur Karki, Tej Man Monger and Hem Rizal, who is also a former political prisoner of Bhutan.
