Nepali gov to allow Bhutanese refugees to do legal businesses

The Government of Nepal is set to allow the remaining refugees from Bhutan in Nepal to obtain permanent account number (PAN) cards, to do small-scale businesses and pursue higher education in Nepal, it has been reported.

A soon to be implemented government decision will allow Bhutanese refugees to get the PAN cards that are a must to carry out small businesses in Nepal.

The cabinet meeting around a few months back had decided to allow Bhutanese refugees to do businesses on a small scale so that they can sustain, said a ome Ministry spokesperson Phadindra Mani Pokhrel as per the news published in The Kathmandu Post. The decision is yet to be implemented though.

There are a little over 6,000  Bhutanese currently living in the Jhapa district,  Most of them have obtained refugee cards after the third country settlement programme was stopped in 2016-2017.

A total of 113,500 individuals were resettled in the United States, Canada and other countries under the third country settlement programme.

After the settlement programme came to a halt, the international humanitarian organisations that had  been taking care of them stopped providing food and direct cash support to the refugees who remained in Nepal. Since then, the Nepal government has been taking care of them .

As per the UN aound 6,365 Bhutanese refugees are still living in Nepal in two camps at Beldangi and Sanischare of Jhapa district.

Once  the government’s decission is implemented, the kin of Bhutanese refugees will have their cards renewed and some late comers, who do not have refugee identification cards and whose number stands at around 429, will get new refugee card as per TKP.

The identification cards will pave the way for them to pursue higher education, open bank accounts, conduct businesses and avail of other services as long as they live in Nepal.