Approximately 650 Rohingyas are reported to be currently living in Nepal but their residence here is in uncertainty due to lack of legal clarity. A high level government official said that in Nepal there is no legal provision for giving refugee status to the Rohingya people evicted from Myanmar and entering Nepal via Bangladesh and India. These stateless people are getting shelter in this country on humanitarian ground and a minor incident of the breach of law can make their situation worse. They may be arrested on charge of criminal activities. Before entering Nepal, they faced threats of Indian police personnel that they could face terrorist charges. Majority of the Rohingya people who fled Rakhine province of Myanmar are living in Bangladesh but these people say that the do not feel safe in Bangladesh for the fear of being deported.

According to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, more than 723,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh since August 2017 and the ripple effects have reached the neighbouring countries including India and Nepal. Due to hard stance taken by Indian to receive Rohingya refugees, these victims evicted after military atrocities in their home country have found safer refuge in Nepal though their future here is also uncertain. One of the Rohingya man who has been staying in Nepal said recounted a harrowing tale of how Bangladesh wants to extradite Rohingyas back to Myanmar and how India treats them as terrorists. That is why they felt safer in Nepal. As these refuge seeking people are living illegally in Nepal, there might be more of them actually living in Nepal than what has been known so far.

According to a news story carried by this daily on Monday, about half of the 650 Rohingya people taking shelter in Nepal have received refugee status from UNHCR. Those who have got this status also get benefits and facilities as per the UN rules. But Nepal is not bound to treat these people as refugee as the country is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention 1951 and similar protocol relating to refugee status of 1967. As Nepal is not bound to provide shelter, there is difficulty to open Rohingya refugee camps in a fixed area. Some Rohingya people staying in Nepal said that they had paid money to middlemen to sneak into Nepal. This is a matter of concern and the concerned authorities should be watchful about. If Nepal witnesses influx of Rohingya refuge seekers through middlemen and human traffickers, it will create serious problem in future.

Nepal already had hard time grappling with the socio-economic and other problems created by Bhutanese refugees. Ultimately, the problem had to be eased by resettling the refugees in third countries. If Rohingya arrival continues in bigger scale, it will create a problem hard to deal with. These refuge seekers entered Nepal via India. So, in this regard, we need to build some coordination with Indian authorities to check the inflow. A clear policy of the government opens way to take appropriate timely measures.