Nepal's Supreme Court has ordered the government to issue exit permits to three siblings born at the Beldangi refugee camp so that they can travel to the United States and join their parents. The judgement was delivered on August 12,2026 (27 Shrawan 2083) but the details was made public in full only recently.
The petitioners are Sonika Angari, 25, Sandhya Angari, 24, and Srijan Angari, 19. All were born at Beldangi camp in Damak, Jhapa. They are adults, though they are often called the children of Bhutanese refugees.
Their father, Monikumar Angari, came to Nepal as a Bhutanese refugee in the 1990s. He was resettled in the United States in 2015 and later became a US citizen. Their mother, Gita Giri, joined him there in 2024.
The siblings applied in May 2026 to the District Administration Office in Jhapa for the recommendation they need for travel documents. They submitted birth certificates, proof of family ties, refugee-camp records and DNA test reports. The US Embassy had also issued a commitment that visas could follow once Nepal provided the permits. Their applications still went unresolved, so they went to the Supreme Court.
The government's argument rested on its refugee records. Their father's name had been removed after he was resettled abroad, and their mother was never listed in the refugee-management system. Officials said this meant the siblings could not simply be treated as members of a registered refugee family.
A joint bench of Justice Sapana Pradhan Malla and Justice Shanti Singh Thapa issued a mandamus order. That is a binding order telling public authorities to carry out a legal duty. It directs the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Jhapa District Administration Office and other bodies to provide the exit permits.
The court found that the siblings had proved their family relationship through documents and DNA testing and had completed the steps for US resettlement. It said that keeping the applications undecided, or relying on technical record issues, could not justify keeping the family apart. In effect, a database entry is evidence, but it is not the whole legal picture. The court also criticized authorities for failing to make a timely decision.
The reported judgment drew on international human rights law, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Under the ICCPR, people are free to leave any country, but lawful restrictions can apply.
The ruling does not remove exit permits for Bhutanese refugees, and it does not let all refugee families leave Nepal automatically. It covers the three petitioners' circumstances. Their US visas are also a separate matter handled by the US side.
It is not yet clear whether the siblings have received their permits or when they will travel. More than 113,500 Bhutanese refugees were resettled in eight countries between 2007 and 2016, many to the United States. This case shows a later problem, where families are resettled but some members are left behind by administrative barriers.
