Afghan refugees in front of the UNHCR Office in Kathmandu. Photo: Kantipur daily

Kathmandu, 25 October: Seven Afghan refugees, who had reached India in the name of medical treatment have arrived in Kathmandu via the Sunauli-Belahiya border pass in Bhairahawa. Since the Taliban captured power in Afghanistan, Afghan citizens are quitting their country and staying as refugees in different countries. This is the first group of Afghan citizens to arrive in Nepal via India, reports Kantipur daily. They have already obtained refugee identity cards from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kathmandu. Citizens from other countries cannot enter Nepal without an entry visa, however, the Afghan citizens, by using the land route, have entered Nepal.  Earlier, a large number of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar had entered Nepal from Kakarvitta via India.  There has been seen security lapses along the Nepal-India border. As the Nepal-India border is opened for the citizens of each other country, people from third countries are also enjoying such a facility by taking benefit of weak security. The Eminent Persons Groups (EPG) from both Nepal and India had recommended regulating the Nepal-India open border but the Indian government has denied accepting the report prepared three years ago. Presently, there are refugees from eight nations. Nepal has recognized refugees from Bhutanese and Tibetan refugees only. Refugees from Bhutan, Myanmar and other countries were found entering Nepal via India. If such a trend will continue, Nepal may turn into a shelter house for the refugees. People’s News Monitoring Service