Kathmandu, 26 Aug: The issue of refugees who were deported from the United States and arrived in Nepal via Bhutan has reached the court again.
Three of the four refugee youths who were released from detention after filing a writ of habeas corpus in the Supreme Court earlier, have appealed to the Patan High Court. They are waiting for the day to file their appeal.
“The Immigration Department has imposed a fine on the refugees for the duration of their stay in Nepal, and three people have appealed to the Patan High Court, demanding its cancellation,” advocate Hemant Pahari told Setopati. “It has been almost a month since we filed an appeal in the High Court. The case has not been filed. We are waiting for its turn.”
According to information provided by Advocate Pahari, Ashish Subedi, Roshan Gurung, and Santosh Darji, among the four people deported by the US and sent to Nepal via Bhutan, have demanded the cancellation of the fines and delay fees imposed by the Immigration Department.
Another refugee, Ashok Gurung, was unable to appeal due to illness.
The administration of US President Donald Trump, which has adopted a tough policy towards immigrants, has so far deported more than 60 refugees to Bhutan. Bhutan is sending them back to Nepal.
Meanwhile, four refugee youths who had arrived in Nepal for the first time last March were arrested by the police on charges of entering Nepal illegally.
Having been expelled from the United States and then from Bhutan, they had arrived at the Beldangi refugee camp in Jhapa. Among them, three were arrested on Chait 16 and the other on Chait 19. After being kept in custody for 28 days, a habeas corpus petition was filed in the Supreme Court demanding their release.
Narayan Kumar, the father of deported Ashish Subedi, had filed a writ petition. Hearing it, the Supreme Court on April 29 ordered their release, detention in a designated camp, and completion of the investigation within 60 days.
After that, three of them lived in Damak Municipality and one in Pathari Shanishchare Municipality of Morang. They are still there today.
According to the decision of the Immigration Department, those who entered Nepal illegally without a passport and visa will have to pay a fine of 5,000 rupees each, and in addition, they will have to pay 8 dollars per day (excluding days spent in detention) towards visa fees and delay fees.
Thus, according to the decision of the Immigration Department, they have been outside detention in Nepal for 150 days as of Tuesday. As stipulated by the Immigration Department, a refugee has to pay Rs 168,528 in visa and delay fees by Tuesday.
Apart from that, there is a separate fine of Rs. 5,000.
