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Surendra Phuyal in Kathmandu
Cases of sexual abuse of women and children in several Bhutanese refugee camps in eastern Nepal have shocked officials with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
What has stunned them the most are reports of aid workers and security personnel being involved in such cases.
"There has been laxity [in checking such abuses] on the part of everybody --- UNHCR, camp officials and local authorities," Abraham, who is in charge of the UNHCR's Kathmandu office, said.
Abraham is heading a seven-member fact-finding mission to probe and initiate steps to check such cases in camps in Jhapa and Morang districts, which are home to nearly 100,000 refugees.
Abraham, whose team arrived last week, confirmed that at least 18 employees of local non-governmental organisations were involved.
"We are here to ensure that such cases do not happen again," Abraham said.
The team arrived a month after a UN investigation last month confirmed that aid workers had either raped or attempted to rape girls as young as seven.
Considering the seriousness of the situation, the agency, which is headquartered in Geneva, has recalled its representative in Nepal, Michael Dupoizat, for an explanation, according to UN officials.
Abraham said the offenders work for UN-funded NGOs.
The UNHCR also said it is assisting in the police investigation and all the 18 aid workers charged with sexual abuses have been dismissed.
"Some of them remain in the camps as they are refugees themselves," he said.
According to Abraham, his team will provide medical and psychological help to victims and check reports of such cases in future.
He said the agency might also ask the Nepal government to deploy more security personnel at the camps.
The refugees, who are of Nepalese origin, have been living in the UN-run camps since early 1990s. They fled Bhutan in the late 80s after the government indulged in what refugee leaders call 'ethnic cleansing'.
Eleven rounds of talks between Nepal and Bhutan have failed to resolve the stalemate that has soured relations between the two Himalayan kingdoms.
Refugee leaders and Western diplomats feel the impasse cannot be solved without the intervention of India, which says the issue should be resolved through bilateral talks between Nepal and Bhutan.
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