Africa: Somalis demand refugee status
Some 40 Somalis staying illegally in Nepal for the past three years have demonstrated outside District Administration Office (DAO) Kathmandu Wednesday seeking attention from the government to provide them the status of refugees. The UN refugee agency in Kathmandu has already registered them as refugees and has been extending financial assistance. However, government has not accepted them as refugees.
Somalis demand refugee status
Some 40 Somalis staying illegally in Nepal for the past three years have demonstrated outside District Administration Office (DAO) Kathmandu Wednesday seeking attention from the government to provide them the status of refugees.
The UN refugee agency in Kathmandu has already registered them as refugees and has been extending financial assistance. However, government has not accepted them as refugees.
The placards they carried said if Nepal does not recognise them as refugees, they must be deported to their country.
These refugees pay visa fees and fines to the government out of little money received from UNHCR. Since work permit is not issued, extra earning is impossible, they said.
UNHCR has not given any data as to how many Somalis have been staying in Nepal, but estimates put the figure to be around 70, who are here since 2005.
Somalis demonstrated outside the DAO after police stopped them from entering the office – they had reached there to make an appeal to Chief District Officer Dhruva Sharma for refugee status. nepalnews.com ia Oct 16 08