The father of one of the Bhutanese refugee youths detained by Nepal Police for the past 19 days has approached the Supreme Court with a habeas corpus writ petition demanding their release from custody.
Narayan Kumar Subedi, father of Ashish Subedi (one of three arrested from the Beldangi refugee camp in Jhapa on March 29), submitted the habeas corpus petition at the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
"I had come yesterday too, I’m now in the court as I had been called today," Subedi said. "I've approached Nepal's Supreme Court demanding that my son and three others who have been made stateless be released from custody and that an environment be created for them to live freely."
On March 28, United States officials handed over 12 Bhutanese refugees deported by the US to the Bhutan government. Bhutanese authorities then confiscated all the documents of the refugees and sent them to Nepal. Four of them are currently in custody at Kakarbhitta on the charge of illegally entering Nepal.
Supreme Court spokesperson Achyut Kuinkel confirmed receiving Subedi's habeas corpus petition and said they're reviewing whether to register it.
"His writ has been submitted to us. We're examining whether it can be registered or not," Kuinkel said.
Ashish Subedi, Roshan Tamang, and Santosh Darji have been in the custody of Kakarbhitta police since March 29, while Ashok Gurung was arrested on April 1.
Meanwhile, Bhutan has expelled five more Bhutanese refugees deported by the US and dropped them off in the Indian town of Siliguri.
A human rights activist revealed that the US has prepared a list of 63 Bhutanese refugees for deportation over their alleged involvement in criminal activities. The US has already deported and handed over 18 of them to Bhutan. After accepting the refugees as its citizens from US officials, the Bhutan government has since threatened and expelled all of them.
Bhutan Peoples' Party President Balaram Paudyal said that a female Bhutanese refugee is also being deported to Bhutan after she was arrested in Pennsylvania, US. If Bhutan expels her too, the total number of expelled Bhutanese refugees would reach 19.
