Human rights and refugee problems in south Asia: The case of Bhutanese refugees

The right to a country of one's own, i.e. "to belong to a sovereign state" is considered to be the most "primordial right" of a person. The very existence of a state essentially lies in the realisation of this right as well as the general well-being of its people. People living within the state are entitled to fair and equal treatment irrespective of race, religion, language or belief. The notion of human rights underlies the principle that "every human being is entitled to enjoy or to have protected" certain rights which exist "in some form in all cultures and societies" that "should be respected in the treatment of all men, women and children" (UNHCR 1994:11). Throughout history, human beings have ceaselessly struggled for the attainment of such basic rights and have made many positive achievements. The principles of democratic governance is the most outstanding of it. Self-determination, equality and non-discriminationhave been universally recognised as the fundamental principle upon which the concept of the modern state is evolved.