A/HRC/61/41/Add.1 Rapporteur expresses serious concern that the Ministry of Home Affairs of Nepal regards refugee claimants as “illegal migrants”, while imposing heavy fines on them for “overstaying their visas”. Claiming asylum is a fundamental human right, and refugee claimants should not be penalized for seeking to live in safety in Nepal or to access third-country resettlement. F. Minority and Dalit persons with disabilities 56. According to the 2021 census, 2.2 per cent of the total population have one or more types of disabilities.94 Persons with disabilities who are Dalits or from minority communities, including Madhesis and Muslims, do not have specific legal recognition in the Disability Rights Act (2017) or related policies and legislation. Due to the existing medical model based on disability identification and categorization, they are being left behind. There is no official disaggregated data available based on the intersections of caste, disability, gender, ethnicity, age, sex and socioeconomic status. Being invisible in the statistics, they are not taken into account in the design and implementation of policies and programmes of the State. There is also a lack of participation and representation of Dalits and minorities with disabilities in State mechanisms that are meant to provide them with services. 57. Dalits or persons belonging to minorities with disabilities face a lot of stigma in Nepal. One account that was shared with the Special Rapporteur concerns a minority woman living with disabilities in Karnali Province; she shared that, while attending a religious event, the superstition was shared by the Hindu religious leader that menstruating women touching others would cause the other persons to have a disability in their next life. The woman described feeling humiliated and ostracized by her own community and by the religious leader for spreading misconceptions about persons with disabilities and menstruating women. There have also been cases where mothers have forced their daughters living with disabilities to undergo sterilization by hysterectomy, to prevent them from bearing children. G. Minority and Dalit persons belonging to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex communities 58. Nepal has a progressive legal framework for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex persons, with the Constitution guaranteeing equality regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. While the law is progressive, society’s attitude towards accepting members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex communities, including within some minority communities, has a long way to go. The severity of social stigma and discrimination is dependent on a number of factors, including the cultural norms and values of the minority group to which they belong, the attitude of one’s family and one’s proximity to Kathmandu, where there is more openness towards diverse sexual and gender identities and expressions. V. Conclusions and recommendations 59. The Special Rapporteur commends Nepal for the progressive legal framework designed to reduce discrimination against traditionally marginalized communities, such as Dalits and minorities. He appreciates the genuine effort of the Nepalese authorities to implement the ambitious aim to eradicate centuries old forms of discrimination. However, more efforts are needed to accelerate implementation. In enacting its progressive Constitution, Nepal must close the gap between clear legal provisions and their meaningful implementation, in order to prohibit discrimination against persons belonging to minorities, as well as Dalits, effectively and to promote their full enjoyment of human rights. 94 16 they should be the least restrictive means to achieve a legitimate goal and not undermine the essence of the right. See https://censusnepal.cbs.gov.np/results/files/result-folder/National%20Report_English.pdf. GE.26-01953