राहदानी नविकरण नहुँदा अमेरिकाका नेपाली आक्रोसित
Setopati

अमेरिकामा राजनीतिक शरणार्थी लिएका र तीनका परिवारलाई सरकारले मेसिन रिडेवल पासर्पोट (एमआरपी) नदिएकोमा यहाँ बस्ने नेपालीहरू सरकारप्रति आक्रोशित भएका छन्।

नेपाली जनसम्पर्क समिति कोलोराडो च्याप्टरद्धारा आइतवार आयोजित कार्यक्रममा सहभागी नेपालीले आफ्नो जाय जेथा नेपालमा रहेको र अल्पकालिन रुपमा वस्नका लागि शरणार्थी लिनुपरेको अवस्थामा सरकारको यस्तो रवैया दुभार्ग्यपुर्ण भएको बताए।

यहाँ राजनीतिक शरणार्थी लिनु भनेको कानुनी रुपमा बस्नका लागि मात्र हो भन्ने सम्वन्धित निकायले नवुझ्दा अप्ठ्यारो परेको उनीहरुले बताए। आउने नोभेम्बर महिनादेखि हातले लेखेको राहदानी उपयोग गर्न सकिदैन। शरणार्थी लिनेले प्रकृया पुरा गरेमा पाँच बर्षपछि मात्र अमेरिकाको पासपोर्ट लिन योग्य हुन्छन्। तर, वासिंटन डीसीस्थित नेपाली दूतावास र न्यूओर्कमा रहेको कन्सुलेट जनरल कार्यालयले शरणार्थी छाप लागेको पासपोर्ट नविकरण गर्न इन्कार गर्दै आएको छ।
कोलोराडो बस्दै आएका लोककुमार रेग्मीले अमेरिका बस्ने सयौं नेपाली पासपोर्ट नविकरण नहुँदा अप्ठ्यारोमा परेको बताए। यो समस्या तत्काल सम्वोधन नभए यस्ता सयौं नेपाली प्रति ठूलो अन्याय हुने उनले दुखेसो पोखे।

जनसम्पर्क समितिका उपाध्यक्ष धर्मराज श्रेष्ठले यो पासपोर्ट नविकरण मुद्दा प्रमुख समस्याका रुपमा आएको बताए। 'प्रधानमन्त्रीलाई जानकारी गराउँदासमेत अहिलेसम्म सम्वोधन नहुनु दूर्भाग्यपुर्ण हो,' श्रेष्ठले भने। झण्डै १ वर्षदेखि अमेरिकामा शरणार्थी पाएका र तीनका परिवारको राहदानी नविकरण भएको छैन।

यस बारेमा पराराष्ट्र मन्त्रालयले हालसम्म दिने निर्णय गरेको छैन। वासिंटनस्थित नेपाली दूतावासका कर्मचारीले गृहमन्त्रालयसँग पनि यो विषय सम्वन्धी रहेकाले यो निर्णयमा ढिलाई भएको बुझिएको बताए। अब छि्ट्टै यसवारेमा सकारात्मक निर्णय हुने आशा हामीले गरेका छौ,' ती कर्मचारीले भने। नेपाली जनसम्पर्क समिति अमेरिकाका अध्यक्ष आनन्द विष्टले यस समस्या वारे प्रधानमन्त्री सुशील कोइराला न्यूओर्क आउँदा आफूहरुले उठाएको जानकारी दिए। 'प्रधानमन्त्रीले त्यसवेला परराष्ट्रसँग कुरागरी यो समस्या तत्काल हटाउने आश्वासन दिनुभएकेा थियो,' विष्टले भने, 'तर अहिलेसम्म किन समस्या अड्केको छ यसवारेमा पुन: दवाव दिन्छौ।

राहदानी नविकरण रोक्नुपर्ने कुनै कारण नरहेको वताउँदै विष्टले यस्तो हुनु दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण रहेको बताए। अमेरिकामा करिव ५ हजारभन्दा बढीले शरणर्थी लिएको अनुमान छ। यसवाहेक युरोप र अष्ट्रेलियामा पनि नेपालीले शरणर्थी लिएका छन्। यसरी शरणार्थी पाउनेले परिवार पनि ल्याउन पाउँछन्। शरणार्थी लिनेलाई भन्दापनि राहदानीमा छाप हुने तीनका परिवारले एमआरपी पाएका छैनन्।

प्रकृया पूरा गरेर नेपालबाटै आउने शरणार्थीका परिवारको राहदानी नविकरण नगर्नू कुनै तर्कले पनि नमिल्ने नेपालीहरुको भनाई छ। नेपाली दूतावास डीसीमा एमआरपी लिनेको चाप निकै बढेको छ। प्रति महिना एक हजार भन्दा बढीको आवेदन आइरहेको ती कर्मचारीले वताए। यहाँ एमआरपी लिन २ महिनाभन्दा वढी समय लाग्ने गरेको छ। दूतावासमा नविकरणका लागि आएका निवेदन संकलन गरेर प्रत्येक महिना दुई पटक नेपाल पठाउने गरिएको छ।

Do you guys agree that they should be allowed to renew their passport? Are all Nepali are refugees? According to United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees has adopted the following definition of a refugee
" [A]ny person who: owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country"

How true is this for Nepalese?

If that was for me, unfortunately I started as $17/hr intern.

Yakku,
One thing I agree with you is on the respect of law and the opportunity it gives to who needs and works hard for it. I have benefitted tremendously from the opportunity here and want others who work hard to have those as well.
But then, I still find reasons for strong disagreement with your other claims/arguments:
First, you are wrong to assume that just because people you know have faked it, all asylees are fake. You ask me to prove you wrong, but I don’t need to. Have you heard of the concept of ‘innocent until proven guilty’? That is the legal premise US operates on. If you think that ALL these people are fake then the onus is on you to prove that they are fake.
Also, if you know that they are really fake, and you are so moral about it, isn’t it then your duty to report it to authorities? What is stopping you? Or would you rather prefer to make life difficult for all asyless because it is simply more convenient for you to lump all asylees together, label them all ‘fake’ and support policies that restricts them all? Have you ever heard of the term ‘summary judgement’?
Second, you mention that the fakers took the opportunity from the people who really needed it. I don’t think US has a ‘cap’ on the number of asylum it gives out, and I hear of no one who were denied asylum due to other people faking it. So your zero-sum analysis on asylum does not seem to be true.
Third, and back to the Nepal govt’s policy: Nepal govt did not deny granting passport renewal to asylees because they were ‘fake’. Nepal govt decided unilaterally and without any legal basis and without any consultation with stakeholders and general public to not grant passport renewal to ALL asylees. So the debate on whether the asylees are real or fake is simply a moot point. The real issue is that Nepal govt has made a decision to shirk its duty towards its citizens especially when they are in foreign land and lack adequate legal representation and that to me is the primary reason why I oppose this policy. The reason I ask for unity is because we need to demand accountability from the Nepal govt to Nepalese citizens and to the diaspora and we can only do so effectively if we are united.

नेपाल सरकारले के गर्न खोजेको हो बुझिदैन ?
देशका युवालाई बिदेशमा कामदार गर पठाई रहेको छ : बर्सेनि सैकडौ मरी रहेका छन् | छ छ महिना लगाएर छिर्ने हरु पनि छन् | रेमिट्यान्सले देश चलेको छ | उद्योग धन्दा ठप्प छन् : भर्स्टाचार राजाको पालामा भन्दा बढी छ | अहिले PM राहत फण्ड बात आफैलाई सहयोग गर्दै chhan
तिमि हरुलाई पैसै भए पुंगे भए पछि त्यो खाडि मुलुकमा जाने भन्दा त रामै स्थितिमा हुन्छन अनि डलर पनि देशमा भित्रि रहेको छ : तिमीहरुले सरकारी ओहदामा बसेर शरणार्थी भिसा मा बस्नेलाई रोक्न खोजेको भए : गुहे हो बनाउ लिस्ट अनि गर फिल्टर |

हैन यो सरकारमा जाने हरु गोबर भरिएको दिमाग का मात्रै राख्ने गरेको छ कि क्या हो ? भ्रस्ट बुद्दि हरुले बनेको सरकारमा दिमाग त्यो मालपोत कार्यालयमा कार्म्गर्ने कामदारको भन्दा माथि किन उठ्न नसकेको ?
किन मुच्छौ तिम्रा कामदार र सर्बसाधारण जनतालाई : तिमीहरुले पूर्व कर्मचारी अबम हालका कर्मचारीलाई छुट्याई गरि देऔ राहदानी नबिकरण |
कि चाहियो घुस यो नया नियम हटाउन ???????????????

My two cents:
SMH on folks who are against fellow nepalese citizens right to have their passport renewed and folks calling it morally wrong to file an Assylum.
Everything is fair in order make your life better.

@Yakku: folks like you makes me puke. $17/hr? who cares? I hope you did not go through IT consultancies to get that job with fake resume.

FYI: I am not an Assylee nor I have family members who have received their permanent residency through Assylum. I am supporting just because I am a nepali citizen and love to see my people suceeding in any aspect of their life.

Well I am not saying they should get their passport or not. It a call of Nepalese govt., and people of Nepal. And seriously you guys are saying most of Nepalese asylee are not fakers, seriously, well then I don't have anything left to say. I don’t have way to convince who are in denial to open fact and common sense. And also I didn't start this thread, if someone seeking community support, then there will be adverse view always. As community member, I believe in giving full authority to Nepal govt. to make decision on this behalf, and disagreeing on creating any pressure, and my response is on public forum. I am sure there will be few people, if not much, who believe what I believe.

@ dukhimanche Bro: I won’t close enough when you puke, so it will fall on you. My $ response was on context, I was proud then how I got that, and I am proud now, & its not even subject of debate.

File garnne bela nepal janna bhandai file garyo aaba bhanne mommy ko yaad aayo... kuro

kura nepal jane matra hoina..nepal nai nagaye pani aru thaun jana lai pani ta bato hunu paryo ni....kati le kaam paunchan yahan tyahi sarnarthi bata ..ani kaam bata kaile arko desh janu parcha..ani passport nahunda k garni..passport nepal jana lai matra chaaine ta hoina

Reason I think passport should be provided:

1. Every city you travel to, you look around to find a Nepali restaurant for momo.
2. All the hard work you do to earn some money, you are sending it to your relatives in Nepal.
3. You have some property in Nepal and you wont like to sell it because you have a plan to return to Nepal whenever it's possible even though it may take too many years.
4. You identify yourself as a Nepali no matter what kind of paper document you carry. Paper is hardly your identity.
There could be several more.

Most neplease seek asylum just for the sake of GC, that is open fact. But this scneario is complex. When asylum is approved, they are legal refugee of country which grant

Most neplease seek asylum just for the sake of GC, that is open fact. But this scneario is complex. When asylum is approved, they are legal refugee to the country which grant them asylum , now again asking passport from home country with out proper rehabilitation, there seems to big conflict of interest.

There is definitely bigger issue here, unless Nepal govt makes law for few thousand people who got asylum approved in western countries.

meraj - When one gets asylum status at a host country, the host country has in effect granted them the temporary relief from the threat of deportation. But legally they are still citizens of their home country. Compare that with green card holders, where the host country has granted them the right to settle/work in their country. Is there a reason why there would be a conflict of interest only in the first case and not in the second case?

The way I see it, as long as they are citizens of Nepal, there is no conflict of interest in granting them passports. If new laws are needed, that would be for dual citizenship. The asylee case is one with single citizenship which is well within existing laws.

Nepal do not care if an asylum is fake or not, it simply understands as a renunciation of Nepali citizenship by asylee for them to gain an asylum status in other country. I am not for or against this policy of Nepal, but just trying to explain why Nepal do not renew an asylee's passport. Matter of fact many countries do the same including India. As far as Passport to travel other countries, one can always get a travel document which allows them to travel most of the countries.

Cardinal Bro-
I just notice this thread yesterday, and totally understand this issue is important to all asylee and lot of other people. I totally agree they are still Nepali citizen, even though they have applied for asylum and got approved, and I am not in position, to influence this decision of Nepal government, I think they will eventually give it.

There is not difference in people who got GC by other way and asylee, if we think and accept that they did it just to find legal way to stay in US. But people need accept that thing. Asylum is granted for people whose life is at risk the moment they put their feet in their home country, and they appealed that their home state can’t provide them any security, they and their family’s life is at complete risk. Other type of GC holder didn’t agree to that.

Now I think they will easily get passport, if they go home and try to renew it or fight in court system. But filing asylum means, one no longer have trust on any state body, which includes judicial system too. The conflict of interest, is in one hand asylee agree that they don’t trust any government authority and other hand they try to maintain passport and use service of Nepal government. Remember that passport is not citizenship; Nepal government is responsible for its passport holder in case emergency, receiving in case of deportation, evacuation etc, but not for travel document holder. Do asylee want to travel with Nepal government passport and evacuated to Nepal in case of emergency, where there life is already in risk? These are reason I think there is conflict of interest.

But do Nepal government cares about this thing, I don’t think so. They are not renewing it, because they don’t know what to do, they think asylee already denounce the citizenship.

Most Nepalese Asylum seekers in US are suckers and Fakers.  

Government of Nepal should confiscated the property of all fake asylum seekers and blue passport holders and give it to poor and homeless. Stop using India route.

The real asylees whose life is at real risk back home will never apply for nepali passport. Do you think they will ever go back to nepal with nepali passport to get themselves killed? hahahaha.

So, now that we have established, the asylee can get travel document, why does he/she need a passport?

People who say obtaining GC by any other means is similar to getting one via asylum route seem to have confused with the motive. Asylum seeker have declared that the country that they were citizen of, is not safe for them. Other GC holders are thus not under the same category. Why is this important? Because you are trying to get travel document from the same country that you said isn't safe for your habitat.

Now if you think the hostile situation no longer exists and you should be allowed back in the country then you have to surrender you asylum status.

meraj bro - thanks for the thoughtful reply. I think the conflict of interest you mention is the reason why many people have a conflict regarding granting passport renewal to asylees. Lets probe that a bit if you don't mind.

Lets think from the individual's perspective. If the asylee has lost faith in the government's ability to provide security, does that necessarily mean that s/he has lost all faith in govt? I do not think so. Here is an example. If someone is genuinely concerned that his life is at risk in Nepal because he was a political activist whose views are strongly opposed by the govt. S/he might still have faith in the judiciary. He might however be concerned that the govt would not even allow him to have a fair trial, and he might be killed in 'encounter'. The point I am making is that it is not always true that the asylee has lost all faith in every aspect of the government, only that he sees serious risks to his security. So if there is a situation if he is traveling with Nepali passport and that Nepali govt makes any effort to rescue him, he does have a choice to comply with the offer for help or decline it. As an individual he should be empowered to make that decision. So I do not see a serious conflict of interest here.

Now lets think about it from State's perspective. The conflict of interest might arise if the state needs to rescue someone who has clearly stated that he is not confident in the state's ability to ensure his safety. Should the state still bother to rescue him? Before I answer this, let me pose you some scenarios: When Parwej Mussaraf took over military rule in Pakistan, Nawaj Sharif and Benajir bhutto took asylum in UK and UAE ( I think). After 9-11 Benajir Bhutto even came to the US and gave public speeches about the menace of Taliban that was threatening Afganisthan and Pakistan. If she had been in an accident during her travel, the Army govt. at that time might not have been too keen to rescue her. But do you think the ordinary citizens of Pakistan would have wanted her to be rescued? The point I am trying to make here is that it is not always what the State wants, but what do the citizens of that country want the State to do on their behalf that is important. If Nepal Govt raises this issue in the parliament and the members of parliament vote to discontinue granting support to asylees then I have nothing to say. But the scenario we have is that the govt. of Nepal has made a unilateral decision without any discussion with stakeholders or with the public.

SIS - The thread debate is not really whether Nepali asylum seekers in US are fake or not, rather it is regarding whether an asylee should have his/her passport renewed by home country or not.

sbh - Be careful what you wish for. If you think it is ok for government to take over private property with the pretext that they left the country, then there is nothing stopping the govt from taking over anyone else's property (including yours and mine) under some other flimsy pretext. There is a reason why 'right to due process' is an important right in a democratic society.

Kiddo - the travel document you mention is for travel back to Nepal. Passport is for travel to other countries apart from Nepal. There is a difference

It does not make sense to provide passport of the country where you escaped persecution and settled down to the foreign country as a asylee. btw travel document will let you travel to other foreign countries too but you have to go through the normal visa process.
You are asking for refuge in the host country fearing persecution from the home country. You have been given refuge here. Now, why would you want the passport from the home country renewed? YOu have provision for travel with the travel document to any country provided that you follow the visa procedure. With the home country passport, I guess you want to travel back and maintain properties there which totally fcuks up the asylee case in the host country. Anyway, idk if its fake or real or whatever the case might be. once you have refuge in the host country, the validity of the home country goes down the drain. Considering your refuge in the host country, now why would the home country want to give you passport and stuff?