Row over Maoist’s refugee status

NEW DELHI: A recent attempt by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) office here to provide refugee status to a Maoist activist from Nepal led to a brief spat with the ministry of external affairs before both sides settled for a truce of sorts.
The UNHCR agreed to the MEA’s demand that the activist be refused refugee status. In turn, the government was forced to concede that he would not be deported to Nepal.
The dispute — which is yet to be settled — revolves around whether a Nepalese citizen can be declared a refugee in India.
Though all Nepalese enjoy the right to live and work in India under the provisions of the 1950 Indo-Nepal Friendship treaty, the government recently deported several Nepalese at the request of the Nepal government, allegedly on grounds of their involvement with the Maoists.
Sources said the government decided to deport them since the extradition process would have been cumbersome.
But the decision has raised questions about violation of the established legal principle of non-refoulement — according to which no person may be returned against his or her will to a country or territory where he or she may be exposed to persecution.