Statelessness and Microfinance 93 − R  elative Political Stability: clients must be able to earn an income without the constant threat of harassment. − Cash Economy: market exchanges must be based on cash rather than barter. A barter system would make repayments to the lending institution more difficult. − Relative Population Stability: the group in question must be expected to remain in the same locale for the foreseeable future (12-18 months) in order to ensure repayment. − Economic Activity & Demand for Microfinance: informal lending and savings is already taking place and the group in question is already operating some small microenterprises. 4 Functional Example: Bhutanese Refugee Camps A number of stateless communities would appear to match these criteria and some of them already have access to microfinance. One particularly successful example of an MFI targeting a stateless community is the Bhutanese Refugee Women Forum (BRFW). The Bhutanese in Nepal are the descendants of Nepalese emigrants to Bhutan. In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s the Bhutanese government began to pursue more restrictive policies with regard to the Nepalese inhabiting Southern parts of the country. This resulted in a large proportion of the Nepalese in Bhutan no longer being considered citizens of the country they resided in. Ultimately many were forced to flee and currently 38,100 dwell in refugee camps in Nepal.4 They are not considered citizens by any state. The BRWF, with the aid of the UNHCR and the Lutheran World Federation, seek to improve the lives of the camp inhabitants. These activities encompass 4 key areas; self-reliance, vocational training, social awareness building, and loan provision. The Loan programme is, of course, the key area of interest for this paper, however, it is worth noting how the other activities of the BRWF all contribute to the human capital available in the camp.5 Human capital is vital to the success of any MFI as they rely on the success of participant’s businesses and participants are often entrusted with a great deal of autonomy in terms of the running of certain meetings. Centres are established consisting of 30 participants. From this pool of 30 individuals 6 groups of 5 are formed. Training concerning the manage­ ment of a small business is provided to all participants. Group members are 4 Nini Gurung ‘Refugee Resettlement Referral from Nepal Reaches Six-figure Mark’ 26 April 2013 <http://www.unhcr.org/517a77df9.html> accessed 24 October 2013. 5 Further details of these activities can be found at the websites of BRWF <http://www.brwf.org/> tilburg law review 19 (2014) 90-97