Biratnagar, June 17 -- After spending more than 18 years in a Bhutanese prison, Chatur Man Tamang and Hasta Bahadur Rai thought they were finally heading home. For the two former political prisoners, home meant the refugee camps in eastern Nepal where they grew up after being expelled from Bhutan as children in the early 1990s.

Instead, they now find themselves stranded at the India-Nepal border, with no country willing to accept them.

"If they had proof of release from the Bhutanese prison, it would be easier for us to take them in," said Sanchahang Subba, secretary at the Beldangi refugee camp. "Unless we have documentary proof, we cannot allow them here."

Tamang, 42, and Rai, 44, were released from Bhutan's Chamgang Central Jail on ...