KATHMANDU (UCAN) -- A breakthrough in the Bhutanese refugee problem emerged when Bhutan and Nepal agreed here to verify the nationality of refugees on the basis of family units.

Following three days of bilateral talks, the foreign ministers of Nepal and Bhutan confirmed at a press conference Dec. 27 that a "stumbling block" to the verification process had been removed.

Nepali Foreign Minister Chakra Prasad Bastola said the decision to verify nationalities, starting in January, marked "the end of a big impasse and the beginning of a new phase in the resolution of the Bhutanese refugee issue."

While the governments agreed to begin the verification process Jan. 31 in only one of eastern Nepal's seven refugee camps, Bhutan's Foreign Minister Jigme Y. Thinley told reporters that residents of the other camps "would begin to be verified at the soonest."

Thinley explained that the decision to proceed on a family basis was made "to maintain family integrity" and avoid breakups.

He also said that "there are no set conditions for documentary evidences and all valid documents will be looked up."

Rakesh Chettri, a Kathmandu-based refugee leader, told UCA News, "This is good news. The spirit of the refugee community has really been rekindled."

The agreement reflects what international observers proposed, said Chettri, executive director of the Center for Protection of Minorities and Against Racism and Discrimination in Bhutan.

Caritas Nepal director Pekoe Moktan concurred when he spoke with UCA News. "The fact that they are going to go about the verification process immediately can be celebrated as real good news," he said.

According to Moktan, Caritas and the Jesuit Refugee Services office were "finding it difficult to find funds to educate a growing number of children in the camps." Caritas has run schools in the camps since 1992. "We now feel relieved and hope the number to educate will be reduced," he said. "At least one-fourth of the (refugee) families should be repatriated quite soon."

During the ninth round of talks, Bhutan demanded verification for all camp residents on an individual basis. After reaching agreement on family-based verification, the Bhutanese and Nepali ministers decided to form within a week a joint verification team, with five members nominated by each side.

About 100,000 ethnic Nepalese refugees from Bhutan live in the eastern Nepal camps. Most fled Bhutan in the early 1990s, claiming they had been persecuted or expelled due to their ethnicity.

Bhutan introduced a Citizenship Act in 1985 that denationalized more than 120,000 Lhotshampas, Nepali-speaking Bhutanese living in southern Bhutan. The Buddhist Kingdom then adopted in 1988 a policy banning cultural and religious expression by ethnic minorities.

It has maintained that most of the refugees are not Bhutanese citizens.

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