The US takes in about 60 thousand refugees a year. When they arrive, they get assistance for several months. In the past, that’s generally been enough to tide them over until they find work. But with the economy in recession, some refugees are weeks away from having no job and no way to pay rent. New Hampshire Public Radio’s Jon Greenberg reports.
Bhima and Lakshu Acharya and their three children came to Concord five months ago. Ethnically Nepalese, Bhima and Lakshu were born in Bhutan, a small Himalayan country squeezed in between India and China. 18 years ago, the Bhutanese government forced many ethnic Nepalese to leave. Bhima and Lakshu have spent most of their adult lives living in refugee camps in Nepal. They could neither work in Nepal nor go back to Bhutan.
A local resettlement volunteer, Doug Hall, takes me to their spartan apartment.
CUT: Jon, this is Bhima//Hello// Hello// sound of door, room sounds
The sweet aroma of Indian spices hangs in the air. The local resettlement agency, Lutheran Social Services, provided furniture and clothes. A mix of federal funds and charitable donations covers the cost of rent and food. Lakshu Acharya says that will soon end.
CUT: Lakshu - Nepali - fade under
Doug Hall translates.
CUT: Doug: beginning Jan 1 they will be responsible for paying the house rent. and what he said was, without a job, how am I possibly going to be able to pay the rent?
Lakshu and his wife have applied at dozens of companies. In the time they’ve been here, he has worked only three days for a small manufacturer. Some of their fellow Bhutanese have found temporary Christmas jobs at retailers like Target but that income will end in January.
The very first Bhutanese refugees to arrive in this country came to New Hampshire. All told, about 40 households. Many of them are in similar circumstances as the Acharya’s.
CUT I would say we have 12-15 families that we’re tracking closely right now.
Amy Marchildon oversees refugee resettlement at Lutheran Social Services. To have a third of her clients without stable income after six months is something she’s never seen before. LSS has no money to continue paying their rent but Marchildon remains hopeful that a special appeal to local congregations and others will bear fruit.
CUT We would depend on the generosity of donors//JG: And if those donors don’t materialize?//Then the refugees in that situation would be just like anybody else in the community who might be in that situation.//JG: Homeless.// Possibly.
A common path for a refugee in America is a few months of assistance followed by a job with modest wages and a hard scrabble to more secure economic footing. Historically, according to government figures, about 70% succeed. The recession is causing many to falter on the way. Livinia Limon is the president of the nonprofit U-S Committee for Refugees and Immigrants.
CUT: We hear anecdotally of refugees being evicted. We’ve not seen it whole scale [sic] yet.
Limon works with many of the local organizations that help refugees in hundreds of communities across the country. Limon says that those groups are scrambling.
CUT: I know that all the agencies that are doing this, are spending lots of money. We’re spending money that we don’t really have, it’s a hedge against disaster. But having a family homeless is a bigger disaster than my balance sheet right now.
Resettlement advocates say federal aid has long fallen short of what’s needed. Local charities try to fill the gap but in a tough economy, that resource is stretched thin. Advocates do not want to see refugees end up on public assistance. They say, at the very least, Washington could provide some extra dollars to help with current crunch.
David Siegel directs the federal office of refugee resettlement. Siegel says right now, he has no more money. He says his hands are tied by a continuing budget resolution that limits spending at last year’s level. But Siegel holds out hope.
CUT: When we have a final budget for 09. If you invited me back, I’d probably give you a different answer. Until that time, the answer is, we do not have any.
There is a common refrain in the resettlement community. As difficult as things might be here, they are infinitely better than life in a refugee camp. Most refugees seem to agree. But not all.
In the parking lot outside their apartment, Lakshu and Bhima Acharya talk about their situation. Lakshu says he would rather be here without a job than in a camp without a future. But Bhima thinks her friends back in the refugee camps ought to stay there until the economy improves.
CUT: Bhima – Nepali – fade under
This time, a Bhutanese neighbor translates.
CUT: She’s not going to tell them to come here. The rent bill to pay, the electric bills, the winter season and children, seeing all this, she cannot say to others to come because they might also face difficulties in later days.
This might be a minority view but it speaks to the uncertainty all these refugees feel as they approach the moment when, in a totally unfamiliar land, they will have no means to provide for themselves and their children.
For NHPR News, I’m Jon Greenberg
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Recession Hits Refugees Hard
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Refugee leaders ask Nepal to solve Bhutanese refugee crisis
KATHMANDU, Dec 17 - Bhutanese refugee leaders, living exiled life in Nepal, on Wednesday welcomed the assurances made by the Nepali government to form a taskforce to resolve the Bhutanese refugee crisis.
Speaking at a programme organised here, on the day Bhutan was celebrating its National Day, Chairman of National Democratic Front (NDF)— the front of three major political parties of Bhutan—Bala Ram Poudel said that the international community and the Nepal government should take initiatives to resolve the Bhutanese refugee crisis in Nepal. "Being the host country, Nepal should take initiatives to repatriate the refugees," said he, adding, "And, the Nepal government should talk to India also to find the solution to this crisis."
The land-locked Himalayan Kingdom observes its national day on December 17 every year to mark the accession of the first king of Wanngchuk dynasty, Gongsar Ugyen Wangchuk, to the throne.
Poudel, who is also the president of the Bhutan People's Party (BPP), further said. "Refugees have been observing December 17—the National Day of Bhutan—as a day of plight."
He demanded that the Nepal government should implement the commitment it made in its annual programmes and policies mentioned in its 85th point apropos to the resolution of the refugee crisis. "Miraculous change has occurred in Nepal," said the president of the BPP, the largest Bhutanese party in exile, adding, "But, the refugee problem has stuck at the same place where it was earlier."
While speaking about the newly promulgated constitution of Bhutan, the Bhutanese leader remarked that it has bestowed a special right to the king which clarifies the fact that the he is above the constitution. "A drama of change is being staged in Bhutan," he said.
Likewise, another Bhutanese leader DK Rai, who was recently released after spending 17 years in a Bhutanese dungeon, on the initiatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), spoke about the torture inflicted on him in the jail.
Rai, who was arrested in November 1991 and detained at the police headquarters in the Bhutanese capital, Thimphu, said that the prisoners of conscience were forced to work in road construction. "We had to bring stones from the river and crush them into pebbles with hammer," he recalled.
According to him, there were altogether 32 political detainees in two blocks in the jail he was confined at before his release. "Some of them have been sentenced to life imprisonment, while others for five to 10 years," said Rai, the former General Secretary of Druk National Congress (DNC). Currently, Rai is under treatment with the help of Center for Victims of Torture(CVICT).
His family, residing in the southern parts of Bhutan, was chased away in 1994 while he was in the jail. They ended up at Khudunabari refugee camp in Jhapa district, Nepal, via India seeking asylum. There are over 100, 000 refugees residing at seven different camps of Jhapa and Morang districts run by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Among them, around 8000 have been resettled in third countries after seven different western countries, including the US, came up with the proposal for resettling around 80,000 refugees.
Of them, 7500 have been resettled in 33 different states of USA, while 365 in Australia, 134 in New Zeeland and the others in Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands. Canada has pledged to resettle 5000 refugees, 24 among them have started to settle at St Jerome, Quebec in Canada recently.
Majority of the leaders claim that the resettlement process will help the democratic movement in Bhutan. "The refugees will support our agitation, wherever they go," said Poudel. He added that the refugees have been divided into two categories—favouring resettlement and willing to be repatriated.
What is more, Rai opined that unless it is not launched from Bhutan itself, the movement cannot succeed. "There is no real democracy in Bhutan. To set up democracy, a movement should be launched from the country," said he.
Meanwhile, Bhutanese refugees residing in Nepal protested the National Day of Bhutan today by organising rallies and demonstrations at various places in Jhapa district.
The refugees living at camps staged demonstrations at three refugee camps today. They said that it is useless to celebrate the national day by Bhutan, their country of origin.
These refugees, mostly ethnic Nepali speaking groups from the southern plains of Bhutan, began entering Nepal in 1990. They fled their country fearing the enforcement of new citizenship laws and the "one nation, one people" policy of cultural assimilation in the late 1980s.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
IOM Assists Over 8,000 Bhutanese Refugees to Resettle Abroad
Nepal - IOM has this year helped over 8,000 ethnic Nepali Bhutanese leave refugee camps in Eastern Nepal and resettle in third countries, including the United States (US), Australia and New Zealand.This year the US accepted over 7,500 refugees, Australia accepted 365 and 134 were resettled in New Zealand. A smaller number were resettled in Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands.
More than 105,000 of the refugees, known as Lhotsampas, fled to seven Nepali camps in Jhapa and Morang regions 17 years ago, following Bhutan’s decision to revoke their citizenship and expel them.
Subsequent negotiations to allow them to return to Bhutan failed and in September 2007 the Government of Nepal signed a Memorandum of Understanding with IOM to carry out resettlement activities in Damak, the Nepali town closest to the camps.
These include the processing of cases referred to resettlement countries by UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, as well as the medical screening, cultural orientation and travel arrangements of refugees accepted for resettlement.
IOM opened a sub-office in Damak in December 2007 and now employs over 200 local staff operating in Damak and all seven Lhotsampa camps.
"The pace of the operation is now picking up," says David Derthick, Head of IOM Damak. "Our resettlement numbers have gone from fewer than 100 in 2007 to over 8,000 this year. The decision of whether to opt for resettlement or not is entirely up to the families concerned, but next year we expect to move between 16,000 to 18,000 people," he notes.
While most of the Lhotsampas are expected to resettle in the US, Australia and Canada, several other countries including New Zealand, Norway and the Netherlands have also agreed to resettle some of the refugees.
For more information please contact:
David Derthick
IOM Damak
Tel: +977 98511085
E-mail: dderthick@iom.int
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Refugees’ Nepali spouses face resettlement hurdles
Bhutanese refugees who have married Nepalis say they are uncertain whether they could be resettled in a third country or not.
Family members of Sunita Bhujel, a Nepali girl married to a refugee, are uncertain whether she would be settled in a third country like genuine refugees who have been living in the camps for about two decades. “I am keen to settle in a third country but the process for the same has not been initiated yet,” she said.
Khem Adhikari, a refugee health worker married to a Nepali girl, is also uncertain whether his wife could go with him. He is worried for the future of his family if his wife could not accompany him to a new country. Many Nepalis who have tied nuptial knot with the refugees are worried that they might be barred from going abroad with their refugee spouses. “We did not marry hoping to settle abroad. Our marriage took place before International Office for Migration started preparations for resettling refugees in third countries,” Khem said.
United Nations High Commission for Refugees does not recognise outsiders married to Bhutanese youths as refugees. Those married to refugees are not provided with food the refugees are entitled to.
TR Gurung, secretary at Beldangi Refugee camp, said, “It has not been clearly stated what happens to the refugee youths married to Nepalis.”
“Keeping a record of such cases has been initiated,” Basanta Raj Puri, contact officer deployed by the home ministry to distribute identity cards to the refugees said, adding, “Such couples may face hurdles for their resettlement at the moment but those enlisted under ‘note of concern’ will be dealt with later.” Puri said the government had agreed to initiate a process for this group of refugees.
A total of 7,661 Bhutanese refugees have been resettled in third countries so far. Of them, 7,090 have been settled in the USA alone.
At least 63,000 refugees have applied for third country resettlement.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Bhutanese refugees tell dark side of Himalayan kingdom
Tom Blackwell, National Post
Published: Tuesday, December 09, 2008
If Canadians know anything about Bhutan, it likely revolves around the tiny Himalayan nation's seemingly enlightened monarchs, often praised for ushering in democracy and championing a state-sponsored philosophy dubbed Gross National Happiness.
But this week, the first of 5,000 refugees from Bhutan arrived in Canada, offering a reminder of the dark side of the country's recent history. The refugees -- ethnic Nepalese and mostly Hindu -- were effectively forced out of Bhutan by that same, Buddhist royal family almost 20 years ago and have been languishing in camps in Nepal ever since.
Their unusual story has continued with the Canadian resettlement offer. Some Bhutanese refugees believe no one should leave the camps until their homeland lets them return and, as part of a sometimes violent internal dispute, have spread misinformation about Canada to discourage immigration here.
Prospective migrants have even been told they will be forced into labour camps in the Arctic if they move to Canada.
"There are lots of rumours circulating," said Yogendra Shakya of Access Alliance, a Toronto-based social service agency, who visited some of the camps in August. "I was asked a lot ‘Is it true that Canada is so cold that you can't have children there, and that's why they want us to go there?' "
The resettlement program is also part of a new approach by the federal government to sponsor large groups of refugees en masse. In support of the project, Citizenship and Immigration Canada this month put out a $1.3-million contract to conduct advance health screening of the Bhutanese coming to Canada and provide treatment for tuberculosis and other conditions if necessary before they relocate.
Refugee sagas usually begin with an infamously despotic leader, or with years of war and strife. This one unfolded differently. Jigme Singye Wangchuck, Bhutan's king until recently, has been widely praised for lifting his people from near-medieval conditions, beefing up public education and health care and opening the window to the outside world. He also promoted Gross National Happiness, a creed which holds that material wealth should not come at the expense of spiritual wellbeing, the environment or culture.
Two years ago, the hugely popular king converted Bhutan into the world's newest democracy and abdicated in favour of his Western-educated son. Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck was crowned just last month, earning glowing press coverage as a handsome and charismatic monarch of the people.
Almost forgotten was a period in the late 1980s and early 1990s when more than 100,000 Bhutanese of Nepalese origin -- a sixth of the population -- departed the country, leaving Bhutan largely to the majority Kruk people.
According to a 2006 article by the UNHCR, the United Nations' refugee agency, "tens of thousands" were evicted, often after being made to sign "voluntary" migration certificates. An Immigration Canada spokeswoman said the camps' residents were "forced" to leave Bhutan, while a 2007 Human Rights Watch report states that most, if not all, the refugees in Nepal have a right under international law to return to Bhutan.
A spokesman for the Bhutanese government, however, argued on Tuesday that few of the refugees are actually from his country, suggesting that many impoverished residents of the region settled in the camps to take advantage of services funded by the international community.
Bhutan has no ill feelings toward its remaining Nepalese minority, with some even serving now as cabinet ministers, added Tshewang Dorji, counsellor with Bhutan's mission to the UN.
"Nobody was forced to leave ... The government didn't want the [ethnic Nepalese] people to leave," he insisted. "People who have ill feelings toward Bhutan have blown this issue out of proportion."
Regardless, repeated efforts to win the refugees' repatriation failed, until eventually a group of seven Western countries, including the United States, Australia and Britain, agreed to accept about 70,000 of them. Canada is taking 5,000 over the next five years.
And yet the humanitarian offer met some stiff resistance in the camps, with certain groups fearing that mass resettlement would spell the end of their efforts to get back to Bhutan itself.
"There have been fairly organized efforts to discourage migration," said Janet Dench, executive director of the Canadian Council for Refugees. Word spread, for instance, that refugees who ended up here "would have to work at camps at the north pole," she said.
To try to set the record straight, Canada has distributed leaflets with accurate information about this country, and is further briefing those selected to come here, said Danielle Norris, an Immigration Canada spokeswoman.
The years of living in refugee camps, unable to officially work to support themselves, has taken its toll on the displaced Bhutanese, said Mr. Shakya, who is of Nepalese origin himself. "Depression, stress is very, very common in the camps," he said.
And yet, he said the refugees have strived to make the most of their grim predicament. Levels of education are higher than in the Nepalese population outside the camps, and many speak fluent English, he said.
Lately, it seems the refugees have also come around to the idea of setting down roots in the West, with many believing they can continue to fight for return to Bhutan from their new homes, said Mr. Shakya.
National Post
tblackwell@nationalpost.com
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Resettlement to be halted
According to the information given by David Derthick, chief of IOM in Damak, the works for resettlement will be halted from December 19. However, he did not mention when the work will resume.
He informed a total of 7,297 exiled Bhutanese have been resettled so far –6,813 in the US, 30 in Australia, 149 in New Zealand, 19 in Norway, 17 in the Netherlands and 13 in Denmark.
Those expressing interest for resettlement has reached 62,000, he said. Bhutan News Service
Canada Welcomes First Group of Bhutanese Refugees
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Dec. 8, 2008) - The first of a large group of Bhutanese refugees will be arriving in Canada today, announced Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism.
The group of 24 refugees will be living in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec. They are the first of up to 5,000 Bhutanese who will be resettled in Canada after living in camps run by the United Nations in southeast Nepal since the early 1990s. Canada has been working with members of the international community to find solutions for the long-standing situation of some 100,000 Bhutanese refugees of ethnic Nepalese descent who were forced out of their homeland and have been living in exile for the past 15 years.
"This is truly the start of a momentous journey for the Bhutanese refugees, who are finally in a place where they can be assured of safety and security," said Minister Kenney. "These individuals, and those still to come, bring with them hopes, dreams and skills that build an even richer and more prosperous society. I am proud of our country's long-standing humanitarian tradition of providing protection to refugees, which helps to make Canada respected and envied throughout the world."
Whenever possible, refugees are settled in communities where they have relatives or friends, but they may move to other cities in Canada as they choose. Under the Canada-Quebec Accord, the Province of Quebec is responsible for providing settlement and integration services for all immigrants living in the province, including refugees. Quebec was involved in selecting these refugees and will be providing them with initial settlement funding covering basic requirements such as clothing and household items. All resettled refugees are also entitled to access various integration services, such as language instruction, to help them adjust and adapt to life in Canada.
There are an estimated 11.4 million refugees in the world today. Every year, 19 countries resettle about 100,000 refugees. Of that number, Canada annually resettles 10,000 to 12,000 refugees, or one out of 10 globally, through its government-assisted and privately sponsored refugee programs. In 2007 alone, Canada resettled refugees of about 70 different nationalities.
The next group of Bhutanese refugees are scheduled to arrive in early 2009 and settle in various cities across Canada.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Bhutan "very serious" towards resolving refugee crisis
Dr Pema Gyamtsho, Minister for Agriculture of the Royal government of Bhutan told Nepalnews.com that the protracted crisis has been an "embarrassment" for the Himalayan Kingdom "as much as any other party concerned", and hoped that the new-round of talks that is soon going to start between Bhutan and Nepal on the issue will bear fruit.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal had met with his Bhutanese counterpart at the sidelines of SAARC summit in Sri Lankan capital Colombo right after assuming office and thereafter at the BIMSTEC meeting in Thailand. On both these occasions, Bhutanese Prime Minister reportedly pledged Bhutan's commitment to resolving this problem by agreeing to resume the stalled talks.
Minister Gyamtsho, however, said that political stability in Nepal was necessary for the talks to become successful, adding that frequent changes in the government in Nepal in the past was the main reason the high-level talks between the two countries couldn't make any headway.
"We should understand that it is not always Bhutan to blame for failure of the talks," he added.
The Bhutanese minister even went so far as saying that the Nepalese media has been biased in its coverage of the Bhutanese refugee crisis till now, always reporting one-side of the story, hence portraying Bhutan in a very negative light.
According to him, Bhutan wants to see the refugee problem resolved as much as Nepal or any other parties involved, but the "negative coverage" [by the Nepalese media] has become a major hindrance to realize this goal.
"This negative coverage should stop if Nepal wants to see the problem resolved," Dr Gyamtsho said, "the Nepalese press should try to administer positive energy into the whole process so as to derive positive results."
He, however, refused to comment on the third country resettlement program that has clearly divided the Bhutanese refugee community languishing in refugee camps in eastern Nepal where they had arrived more than 17 years back after being forced to flee from their homes in Bhutan.
Some 1,00,000 Bhutanese still reside in makeshift huts built inside these UN managed refugee camps, even though hundreds of them have been leaving Nepal for U.S.A, Australia and other European countries every day as part of the third country resettlement program. However, Bhutanese refugee leaders have been opposed to the idea of third country resettlement, insisting that the only solution lies in the "respectful return" of the Bhutanese refugees.
Minister Gyamtsho is currently in Kathmandu to attend the 25th Anniversary celebration of the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).
nepalnews.com ananda gurung Dec 06 08
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Missive to Jigme on refugee repatriation
Kantipur Report
KATHMANDU, Nov 27 - Bhutanese refugee leader Tek Nath Rizal has sent a letter to Jigme Singye Wangchuk, former king of Bhutan, requesting him to facilitate the early repartition of all Bhutanese refugees languishing in seven camps in eastern Nepal.
In his appeal to Druk monarch Jigme Singye Wangchuk, Rizal said the sufferings of refugees, who have been forced out of their homeland, would always haunt the monarchy of Bhutan.
After the 15th round of talks between Nepal and Bhutan failed to resolve the long-standing problem, Bhutanese refugees were given the option of resettling in eight countries, including the United States.
"We had hoped that you would resolve our problem. But your abrupt abdication has saddened us," the Bhutanese leader said.
He said Bhutan would lose its prestige further if it failed to resolve the refugee imbroglio.
Rizal, who also served as the people's representative of Bhutan and adviser to the royal council, asked the former monarch to review his perception about Bhutanese refugees through study and consultations with experts.
The Bhutanese leader argued that the ruling system adopted in Bhutan cannot be called democracy as it has failed to deliver justice to people. He congratulated the former king for handing over the throne to his son Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
After 16 Years in a Refugee Camp, Bhutanese Find a Home in Chicago
He remembers the eight-hour bus ride through India and upon their arrival, the sight of a singular gas-burning lamp shining in the blackness. Except for that light, he couldn't see anything around him -- not the tall, scrubby trees surrounding the camp or the snowy peaks in the distance.
Too young to remember his native Bhutan or the tiny country's sudden shift toward nationalism and the violence that followed, Khatiwada has only distant memories of the day his parents told him it was time to leave home. They didn't tell him why or where they were going.
Bishnu Khatiwada, left, with his brother Durga and sister Pabrita
Khatiwada was the first of his family to arrive to Chicago this March. His parents and siblings followed in July. They are among the 60,000 Bhutanese refugees the United States is offering to resettle within its borders, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
But for 16 years Khatiwada and his family lived in Beldagi II, one of Nepal's seven refugee camps. There are more than 107,000 Bhutanese refugees in Nepal, according to the UNHCR.
"The government virtually expelled the Nepali-speaking Bhutanese," said Merrill Smith, director of government relations at the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. "There was mob violence and family's homes were burned down."
Landlocked between China and India, Bhutan is a predominantly Buddhist country. In the late 1980s, the government took away the citizenship of the rising Hindu minority -- the Lhotshampas -- in southern Bhutan.
Khatiwada and his family, like other Lhotshampas, are of Nepali descent and were prohibited from practicing their traditional customs, speaking their native languages and attending school. In the early 1990s, amidst the arbitrary imprisonment and torture of protestors, thousands of Bhutanese fled to Nepal.
Sitting cross-legged in his family's drafty Roger's Park living room, Khatiwada wears jeans, a gray long-sleeve shirt and a black puffy coat. He chuckles when he says that American students call him "westernized." He talks about speaking to high school students recently about Bhutanese culture, as he checks his cell phone.
Khatiwada's mom, Bhima, enters with a tray of creamy, sweet spiced tea. She wears a white, knit winter hat and has a large, golden stud in her thin nose.
Khatiwada and his dad, Tara, comment on the increased amount of coffee they now drink. The loud conversation of the next-door neighbors is audible through the bare, white walls.
"I don't like Starbucks coffee," he says, with a wince and a quick head shake, his shiny, black hair falling in wisps over his forehead. "It's too bitter. That's why I drink Dunkin' Donuts. But [Starbucks] hot chocolate... it is so good."
Despite Khatiwada's identity as a refugee, he's like most 22-year-olds. He surfs the web, considers getting his bachelor's degree, likes to play guitar -- especially Bad Company and Brian Adams. He has a job setting up banquet rooms at the Peninsula Hotel.
"He was the quickest [refugee] to find employment," said Joe Carroll, job developer at Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Ministries. The Uptown center is helping the Khatiwada family resettle.
On average, said Carroll, it takes about three to four months for refugees to find employment. But Khatiwada got his after about a month. Carroll attributes Khatiwada's high English proficiency as "the main factor" in his speedy placement.
"He was already fluent and had the look; he's young, good looking, friendly -- they liked him," said Carroll.
But the transition from the refugee camp to Chicago wasn't easy.
"When he came first here," said his father Tara, in a soft-spoken voice, "I heard that he was scared."
Carrol met Khatiwada at the airport the day he arrived. Interfaith assists refugees in the resettlement process by finding affordable apartments and filling them with basic furniture and food. But more importantly, they serve as a friendly face for refugees who arrive on their own.
"He was very quiet at first," said Carroll. "He used to come to the office every day and hang out... he didn't have the community he was used to. He was the only Bhutanese we had."
The family decided together that Khatiwada would come to Chicago on his own while the rest of them finalized paperwork in Nepal, said Tara Khatiwada. They decided Khatiwada's brother, Durga, 20, and his sister Pabrita, 17, were too young.
He knew he had to get a job right away, said Carroll. He was "very good about thinking about responsibility... he knew he had to be the bread winner."
"Being a refugee is not good," said Khatiwada. But, he said, with his straight, white teeth beaming, "I'm grateful for the opportunity to start a new life in my new home."
Demonstrations for repatriation
The demonstrations were organised in the initiative of United Bhutanese Refugee Repatriation Programming Council. According to Dilli Ram Ghorsai, an exiled leader who participated the sit-in at Mechi Bridge, they demonstrated peacefully urging India to allow them return home through Indian soil.
Indian security personnel deployed in the area barred the demonstrators cross the Mechi Bridge into India, after which the demonstrators organised sit-in protests.
Similarly, UBRRPC organized sit-in program in Beldangi camp coinciding the visit to Indian external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee to Kathmandu. Few hundred exiled Bhutanese participated the sit-in demonstration. Additionally, 406 exiled Bhutanese jointly wrote a letter to Mukherjee and sent him through Indian embassy in Kathmandu seeking Indian support for solution of the refugee crisis. Bhutan News Service
Monday, November 24, 2008
Next destination "Holland"
"We will start the resettlement process of refugees from tomorrow", told camp secretary TB Gurung quoting one of the delegates as saying.
The exact figure of the exiled Bhutanese Holland is going to accept was not disclosed during the visit.
"We were just informed that a few refugees will fly to Holland", added Gurung.
There some more than three dozens of Bhutanese taking shelter in Holland.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Nepal: US Offer to Resettle Bhutanese Refugees Sparks Tensions
Source: Human Rights Watch
A US offer to resettle 60,000 Bhutanese refugees has given hope to many of the 106,000 refugees living in Nepal for more than 16 years, but has also heightened tensions in the camps, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Refugees who insist on repatriation as the only acceptable solution have been threatening and intimidating those who voice support for resettlement in the US.
The Bhutanese refugee crisis began in 1991 when Bhutan began to expel ethnic Nepalis, a policy that resulted in the expulsion of one-sixth of the country’s population. But since the announcement of the US offer in October 2006, groups of refugees who insist that the only acceptable solution is return to Bhutan have threatened refugees favorable to resettlement.
“Refugees fundamentally have the right to return to a country that expelled them,” said Bill Frelick, refugee policy director at Human Rights Watch. “But all refugees also have the right to make essential choices about their lives without threats and intimidation.”
The 86-page report, “Last Hope: The Need for Durable Solutions for Bhutanese Refugees in Nepal and India,” discusses the possible solutions to this protracted refugee situation and the choices the refugees now face. It describes conditions of the ethnic Nepali refugees who have languished in exile in Nepal and India, and also documents continuing discrimination against the ethnic Nepalis still living in Bhutan, who live in fear that they too could be stripped of their citizenship and expelled from the country.
“While repatriation would be the best option for most refugees, it can only be viable if Bhutan upholds its duty to guarantee the returnees’ human rights,” said Frelick. “Until then, repatriation to Bhutan cannot be promoted as a durable solution for the Bhutanese refugees in Nepal.”
So far, Bhutan has not allowed a single refugee to return. Consequently, the refugees have endured years in cramped camps with no prospects for solutions. The report documents life in the camps and domestic violence and other social problems that have come after protracted periods in closed camps.
“We don’t want to be dependent on others,” a Bhutanese refugee told Human Rights Watch. “Half our lives have been spent as refugees. We don’t want that tag on our children’s forehead. We want them to be proud citizens.”
Since the announcement of the US resettlement offer, tensions in the camps have been building. Partly, this is because of rumors and misinformation about the nature of the offer itself. It is also due to intimidation by groups militantly opposed to resettlement who insist that the only acceptable solution is return to Bhutan.
“People feel insecure,” said a young man. “If others hear you are looking for other options than repatriation, they will condemn you as not favoring repatriation, or diluting the prospects for repatriation. Others will accuse you of having no love for the country.”
Human Rights Watch called on the Nepalese government to prosecute intimidators who threaten or harm those who exercise their rights to freedom of opinion, expression, and association.
“Before any solutions can be achieved, Nepal must provide sufficient security in the camps to enable refugees to express their opinions and exchange information freely,” said Frelick.
The report discusses the possible solutions to this protracted refugee situation and the choices the refugees now face.
“To be effective, the US resettlement offer cannot operate in isolation,” said Frelick. “The Bhutanese refugees need genuine choices.”
This requires a three-pronged strategy. First, resettlement should be a real option for as many refugees as want it. This means that other countries should join in a coordinated effort to maximize the number of resettlement places. Bhutanese refugees living outside the camps in Nepal and India should also be eligible. Nepal should cooperate on the resettlement option, in particular, by issuing exit permits without delay to refugees accepted for resettlement.
Second, Nepal should grant citizenship to those refugees who express a preference for local integration over resettlement or repatriation. Finally, the United States, India and other countries should redouble their efforts to persuade Bhutan to allow refugees who want to repatriate to do so under conditions that are compatible with human rights law.
“The possibility that many refugees may now choose other options should make it much easier for Bhutan to accept repatriation,” said Frelick. “Resettlement countries should press Bhutan for a genuinely comprehensive solution to this protracted refugee situation.”
King Kesar, President Obama and The Tug of Refugees
By Govinda Rizal
In the first week of November, 2008 when Barack Hussain Obama was being elected President of colossal USA, the people of tiny Bhutan were celebrating the coronation of a new monarch. The two newly destined rulers have many things in common and many things uncommon. While president elect Obama is elected for the next four years, Monarch Kesar can chose to rule as long as he wishes or lives. Both leaders are young in their respective peoples' expectation and people of both countries are more hopeful about them than they were with their predecessors.
The issue of Bhutanese refugees is the single string that ties the two and yet keeps them in a distance. Hundreds of thousands of Bhutanese refugees who make up more than one sixth of Bhutan's population, were chased from the country by the former monarch, the present monarch's father, for opposing his rules. These people who were unable to live under the former king's brutal administration, to save their lives fled under the cover of darkness. They lived in exile in India and Nepal for two decades, hopefully waiting for the king to think like them. The king did not change his mind nor could the people change him.
The people who have their citizenship and nationality at stake, who on charges of opposing the king's rule had their citizenship revoked and were made stateless, expect a change in the law to make it accommodative for them. More than the law, the reality is that the land and property owned by them were usurped by the king. All possible allegations have been made against them, to make the already repressed fugitives unable to return and claim their lost legacy. For decades, these people languished in camps, scraped a living with the UNHCR providing food. They always have had an expectation; an international body to see and understand them, talk on their behalf to their monarch to allow them back home. Their expectations were never met.
Their plight in the refugee camps, in the subhuman conditions, won the hearts of American people who graciously invited them to stay in America with them. Today there is a long chain of Bhutanese people and their relatives, right from Bhutan via the refugee camps to the United States of America. At the two ends of the human chain there are new leaders. The Monarch Kesar is in the source and President Obama in the end of the long line of refugees.
For both the leaders to be clear, all these people want to return to Bhutan, but not all may return. As long as all the willing people are not allowed to return, the wound of Bhutanese society will remain cancerous. The expectations from the new leaders are high. Despite his intricate responsibilities, President Obama is expected to listen to sixty thousand Bhutanese minorities being settled in USA, and say to the new monarch of Bhutan to take back his people from exile, win their hearts, earn their appreciation, respect and fulfill a royal obligation.
Will a day come soon, when the two leaders will meet somewhere in the world, talk of these people who connect them, who bind them and who expect from them?
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Refugee Resettlement, Is It Being Carried Out Fairly?
Heavy response
Not taken seriously in the initial stage, the TCR offer that began in the midst of an insecure atmosphere has attracted more than 50,000 individuals. They have submitted their declaration of interest to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The latest data show that majority of the Bhutanese refugees have shown interest in getting resettled in third countries.
But there have been instances of corruption inside the refugee camps in Jhapa and Morang districts, which have been reported in the media time and again. And there is police suspicion that a racket has been involved in trying to slip non-Bhutanese into the resettlement programme. This is one of the serious concerns of the authorities involved in resettling the Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origin in third countries.
Following the arrest of one Amrita Darjee, 30, a temporary resident of Beldangi-II camp under Sector D/1-16, who confessed to charges of forgery in the resettlement process, the question of infiltration of non-Bhutanese in the resettlement programme has been raised.
Some 100,000 refugees fled Bhutan in the early Nineties to flee suppression by the Bhutanese authorities. These refugees have been living in camps in eastern Nepal since the past 17 years, and the resettlement programme in a third country offers a ray of hope for a better future.
The writer of this piece came across many refugees inside the camps who complained that they were not allowed to re-register until a bribe was issued to the Refugee Coordination Unit (RCU). Many refugees are scared to disclose the reality to media persons about having paid a bribe to the RCU stationed inside the camps.
There are a number of refugees inside the camps who say that even some members of the refugee Registration Team (RT) are refusing to register them. A refugee from Beldangi-II camp, on condition of anonymity, said that he gave Rs. 7,000 to a member of the RT in order to get a refugee status. This is corruption at the highest level since the Registration Team comprises representatives of the UNHCR and Nepal government.
Verification and re-registration of Bhutanese, not registered as refugees earlier, is not moving in a fair and impartial way since officials at the RT are learnt to ask for money. The UNHCR as well as the Government of Nepal should, therefore, look into the ongoing corruption in the TCR programme.
On the other side, the ongoing corruption inside the camps has pushed back vulnerable refugees, since they are not given priority during the resettlement process. As the offer of resettlement is free of cost, the authorities concerned, particularly the UNHCR and Government of Nepal, should be serious towards discouraging such practices inside the camps.
The corrupt officials should not be allowed to go scot free since such incidents will only encourage more of such corruption. It’s certain that the growing corruption in the resettlement programme will derail the TCR programme. And this will only invite frustration in those refugees who are interested in getting resettled in third countries.
Possibilities of fraud cannot be ignored. But genuine Bhutanese refugees should not be denied from resettling in third countries should they meet all the requirements. Sorting out vulnerable refugees is the need of the hour. It is to be noted that already a significant number of refugees, having a sound wealth background, have been resettled in different countries, most of them in the US. But poor vulnerable refugees seem to struggling to be resettled as early as possible. This is a matter of serious concern.
Maoist involvement
This writer also came across many refugees whose process for resettlement was scuttled by the UNHCR for alleged involvement in Maoist-related activities inside the camps. Investigation of such cases should be carried out in a free, impartial and fair manner to ensure that no innocent refugee becomes a victim. Not only this, the authorities are even learnt to have warned the refugees not to disclose that their process for resettlement had been halted.
(Mishra is a Bhutanese journalist in exile in Nepal. He can be reached at: mishratp@gmail.com)
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Bhutan’s "Nelson Mandela" driven to Nepal refugee camp
Kathmandu, Nov 15 (IANS) A 45-year-old Bhutanese of Nepali origin, who was released from prison after 17 years by the Bhutan government this month, has been forced to take shelter in refugee camps in Nepal.
The expulsion of Dhan Kumar Rai, dubbed the Nelson Mandela of Bhutan by Nepal’s media for his long imprisonment, comes after the coronation of a new king and Bhutan’s well-publicised plans of reform and modernisation.
Rai, who arrived in Kathmandu for medical treatment Friday, is suffering from heart and mental problems.
One of the founding members of the exiled Bhutan People’s Party, he was earlier forced to leave Bhutan in 1989 when the Druk government began a crackdown on ethnic citizens, especially those of Nepali origin.
He fled to West Bengal in India where two years after his escape he was arrested by police from the Dooars area and handed over to Bhutan. The 28-year-old was accused of sedition, terrorism and attempt to murder and was sent to the central prison.
Rai says there were 74 more Nepali-speaking Bhutanese prisoners in the same prison block.
Rai and three other political prisoners of Nepali origin - Manbahadur Moktan, Ratna Thapa and Indrajit Pulami - were released Nov 1, five days before the coronation of Bhutan’s fifth king Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, reportedly due to pressure by the International Red Cross Society and other international human rights organisations.
However, he could not view the three-day lavish coronation ceremony. Rai was given 48 hours to quit Bhutan.
On Nov 5, he arrived in Khudunabari in east Nepal where his brother and other family members have been living since fleeing Bhutan in the 1980s.
The freed activist says there are still about 100 political prisoners in the Chemgang Jail where he was held. He says he saw six prisoners die due to torture inside the prison.
Rai’s arrival in Nepal comes at a time when the previous government of Nepal, despairing of ever getting Bhutan to agree to take back the over 100,000 refugees languishing in Nepal, gave its nod to six Western countries to resettle the refugees.
Over 6,000 refugees have left the camps and are now trying to make a new life for themselves in the US, New Zealand, Australia and Canada. In the coming days, more refugees are likely to be resettled abroad.
The exodus is being opposed by exiled Bhutanese political parties who feel if the camps are empty, Bhutan will be emboldened to evict still more ethnic citizens.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Bhutan’s forgotten citizens
By Bhumika Ghimire
West Lafayette, IN, United States, — Bhutan celebrated the coronation of its new king last week. The 28-year-old Oxford-educated bachelor Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck assumed leadership of a nation that is just beginning to take baby steps toward modernization. The country held its first democratic elections in March 2008 and only recently allowed satellite television and Internet access.
Bhutanese call their country “Druk Yul,” which means “Land of Thunder Dragon.” The country has been described by many as the ultimate tourist destination, untouched by the hazards of the modern world, with a perfectly preserved environment and undisturbed ancient culture.
Unfortunately for the new king, integrating Bhutan with the modern world while keeping its natural and cultural heritage is not the only challenge on hand. For the last 17 years, the country has been wrestling with a major issue, which surprisingly was not mentioned or discussed during the lengthy and lavish coronation celebrations.
King Jigme Khesar’s father, Jigme Singye, came up with a plan for a more homogeneous Bhutan during the 1990s. He wanted Bhutan to have one culture, one language and even imposed a dress code. The problem with his ideal was that his country was not homogeneous. Significant numbers of ethnic Nepalese were living in the country. They had their own language, culture and religious beliefs.
Not to be deterred, Jigme Singye decided to throw out the “undesirable Nepalese” and create a perfect Bhutan. As a result, more than 100,000 ethnic Nepalese were left stateless.
Nepal and Bhutan don’t share a border; the two countries are separated by the Indian state of Sikkim. Indian authorities allowed safe passage for the refugees to enter Nepal. The circumstances under which the refugees were escorted into Nepal are often disputed, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that the scene was definitely neither pretty nor peaceful.
With India’s help, Bhutan successfully got rid of more than 100,000 of its ethnic Nepalese citizens. Those refugees are now living in camps funded by the United Nations in and around Nepal’s Jhapa district.
For more than a decade, Nepal and Bhutan have been wrangling about the refugee issue. India has refused to get involved. Not a single refugee has been repatriated and all the diplomatic efforts have produced almost zero results – except for protracting the debate.
It was disheartening to see that Bhutan’s new king did not make any move toward reconciliation or show any concern toward his citizens suffering in a foreign land. In his message to the nation after coronation, King Jigme Khesar promised to keep Bhutan safe from “outside influences” and emphasized preserving the country’s heritage, but he chose to forget about the refugees.
Bhutanese refugees have urged their new king to allow them back home. They have asked the Nepalese government for help. But the Maoist-led government is in no position to save the Bhutanese; in fact, it is in no position to save itself. Bitter fighting among various political parties over the issue of integrating former Maoist fighters into the Nepalese Army could very well cause the government’s collapse.
Who is going to stand up and fight for the refugees then? At this time the answer is, sadly, no one. The international community, including the United States, has decided to take the easy route. They have decided to resettle the refugees in a third country. Already, some refugees have been taken in by the United States and Australia, and some will be going to Europe.
It is better to provide a stable home and citizenship to the refugees instead of leaving them to languish in camps for years without any legal status. But if we keep ignoring abuses like the one committed by Bhutan and keep cleaning up their messes, aren’t we empowering the abuser?
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(Bhumika Ghimire is a freelance reporter. Her articles have been published at OhMyNews, NepalNews, Toward Freedom, Telegraph Nepal, Himal South Asian and ACM Ubiquity. She is also a regular contributor to News Front Weekly, in Kathmandu, and Nepal Abroad, in Washington D.C. She can be reached at bhumika_g@yahoo.com. ©Copyright Bhumika Ghimire.)
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
US and Indian Policy Paradox
Source: The Seoul Times
By Bhim Prasad Bhurtel
US president Bush has announced two key policies at the second term presidential inaugural address; 'expansion of freedom' and 'export of democracy' in the world. However, in Bhutanese case Bush's policies are paradoxical. The USA, Canada, Australia and Norway are planning to resettle about 80000 Bhutanese refugees who are staying in Nepal since last 16 years in their land as initiated by USA.
One-sixth of Bhutanese population is exiled in Nepal since 16 years following their ouster from Bhutan claiming that they are non-Bhutanese by the establishment. Bhutan is landlocked country and refugees entered Nepal via Indian path. The refugees consider themselves only to be Bhutanese nationals no other else. They want a dignified and esteemed return to their homeland. However, they are victims of political apathy of the Bhutanese government that does not consider them Bhutanese nationals. The establishment has already redistributed their land to others and is not interested in ensuring their repatriation.
The Bhutanese refugees were permitted to enter Nepal on Humanitarian ground or else it would be the problem of India and Bhutan. The Nepalese government has erroneously stepped as a bilateral player and has held 15 rounds of talks with the Bhutanese government in the past. Nepal is not in a position to assimilate them into the country. In fact Nepal has now made it quite clear that the problem is between the Bhutanese government and the refugees.
The prolonged exile of Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal is a major human rights deficit in the South Asia. The attempts to resolve the issue on the part of many actors have resulted in little or nothing to alleviate the suffering of the Bhutanese refugees.
The issue of the Bhutanese refugees in Nepal is ultimately an issue of justice which demands that Bhutan not only get away with the expulsion of its citizens, but makes sure that the refugees get back their country and their right to live a normal life.
The South Asia has differing levels of democracy. Nonetheless, the idea of democracy remains an attractive one. The Bhutanese refugees are doubly marginalized–rendered both ousted and stateless. They need the help of the international communities to get their rights back, and to ensure that Bhutan adopts a democratic dispensation. For this establishing real democracy and the enduring freedom are preconditions in Bhutan.
Given the protracted nature of the problem, USA has come up with a resettlement proposal. It has been accepted only by a segment of the refugees. Only about 32000 refugees have registered to resettle in the third country among 107431. About 3000 refugees have already resettled in US. The proposal has glinted off a controversy and created confusion amongst the refugees. They want a lasting solution to the crisis which is their dignified and safe return to Bhutan and nowhere else. Another issue of concern is the fear among the refugees that camps could become a fertile breeding ground for violence and terrorism if further prolong the problem. The refugee problem may be a destabilizing factor in South Asia.
US led humanitarian solution is welcomed, as the lingering nature of the refugee issue but as a temporary measure only. Given the intractability of the problem, resettlement is an alternative. However it is not a permanent solution. If resettlement is carried out the problem of democratic deficient Bhutan and the contraction of freedom of Bhutanese remain same.
In fact, there are two issues: first related to ushering democracy in Bhutan. Second is related to the situation of the refugees. In addressing the refugee issue however, it is always borne in mind that the democracy deficit in Bhutan that has resulted in the refugee issue in the first place. The democracy, freedom and the problem of refugees could not be separated.
Indeed reasons for prolonged the lethargy and reluctance of the Indian government to tackle this problem. There is an urgent need to make the Indian government realize that it must take a more responsible approach to human rights violations in the region, given its geo-political importance in South Asia.
India's role is crucial. India is also interested on third country involvement for resettlement excluding safe return to Bhutan. As the biggest functioning democracy in the region, with tremendous economic clout, it is certainly in a position to correct the great atrocities done to the refugees.
India may have the most influence on Bhutan to push for a solution. That might be amenable to the refugees. But India steadfastly refused to get involved. This is ultimately an issue of justice that demands Bhutan does not get away with the expulsion of its citizens. Bush administration should motivate India to established democracy in Bhutan and enduring freedom to Bhutanese people and ensuring their dignified return to Bhutan. The resettlement of Bhutanese refugees in third country neither resolves the problem nor stabilizes the region. Bush administration should stimulate India in this line for the stability in South Asia. US Establishment should bear in mind that resettlement of Bhutanese refugees in third countries neither export democracy nor expand freedom in Bhutan.
Bhim Prasad Bhurtel is Executive Director of Nepal South Asia Centre, a Kathmandu based think tank regional NGO engaged in two core issues; democracy and development in south Asia. Author can be reached at Bhurtel_bp@hotmail.com
Monday, November 10, 2008
Bhutanese refugees find new life beyond the camps
Source: IRIN News
KATHMANDU, 10 November 2008 (IRIN) - Thousands of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal have been successfully resettled in seven countries, including the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Canada, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
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| Thousands of Bhutanese refugees who are Nepalese origin, after having lived in camps in Nepal for as long as 20 years, have been resettled to the United States and six other countries with the assistance of UNHCR and IOM |
After several years of failed bilateral talks between the Nepalese and Bhutanese governments to repatriate them, the refugees are now opting for third-country resettlement with the help of UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Since March 2008, 6,200 Bhutanese refugees have been resettled and more are in the process of leaving the camps every week, said UNHCR officials in Nepal.
UNHCR said the USA had offered to resettle 60,000-plus refugees from Bhutan over the next five years, with another 10,000 hosted by the other countries listed.
Norway, which has a quota of barely 1,000 immigrants from all over the world, has provided settlement for nearly 200 Bhutanese refugees, according to the Bhutanese Refugee Rights Coordinating Committee (RRCC).
New beginning
"After so many years of suffering and leading miserable lives as refugees, they now have a chance to live in dignity," Ashok Gurung, senior member of the RRCC, told IRIN in the capital, Kathmandu.
Gurung, himself a refugee, explained that refugees had now been happily living in host countries.
"I have a strong degree of respect for the courage it must take for refugees to make the decision to resettle and begin their new lives upon resettlement," Daisy Dell, the UNHCR representative in Nepal, told IRIN.
She added that the resettlement process was a huge cultural and social adjustment for refugees who have been living in harsh camp conditions for nearly two decades.
The resettled refugees are adjusting to their new environment and have found jobs that pay as a high as US$8 per hour working on farms, in hotels and other jobs, according to RRCC.
"They have to struggle initially and have to start from scratch as most are not highly educated,” said Gurung. “It’s the children who benefit the most." He added that local charity agencies and Christian missionary organisations were helping to sponsor or find financial support to enrol the children in school.
Breakthrough
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| Over 6,000 Bhutanese refugees have already been resettled in USA, Europe, Australia and Canada |
The agency has met resistance from some groups of refugees who have been advocating for repatriation to Bhutan and protesting against third-country resettlement.
According to some refugees, there are 13 different armed groups still opting for repatriation and the Nepal government has stepped up security with the help of armed police in the refugee camps. UNHCR's position is that resettlement is an individual choice.
"Without the support of the refugee community, the government of Nepal and the international community, the possibility of resettlement for some 100,000 refugees from Bhutan would not have become a reality," added Dell.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Call to stop third country resettlement
Source: The Kathmandu Post
DAMAK, Nov. 7 (PR) - Bhutan Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist), waging armed struggle in the Druk kingdom for the repatriation of Bhutanese refugees, has demanded Nepal government to stop third country refugee resettlement program by the end of this year. The party has also warned of launching agitation from within the refugee camps of Nepal if third country resettlement program is not scrapped as demanded. Addressing a program held clandestinely to mark the party's eigth anniversary in Jhapa on Friday, the party's military commission representative for Nepal Nirmal said the Maoist led government ignored the party's repeated calls to put an end to the third country resettlement program. "The party will begin struggle from the refugee camps if the resettlement program is not scrapped by January 2009," warned Nirmal.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Bhutanese refugees find little to cheer about in king's coronation
"There is no happiness in the refugee camp as the new king ascends the throne," said SB Subba, chairman of the Human Rights Organization of Bhutan. "It is meaningless for the people in refugee camps as the monarchy is the sole cause of our suffering."
His organization has been fighting unsuccessfully for more than a decade for the right of the refugees, most of whom are ethnic Nepalese, to return to Bhutan. They began arriving in Nepal in the early 1990s, accusing the Bhutanese government of persecution based on cultural, lingual and religious differences.
"The new king can only win the hearts and minds of people if he allows all exiled Bhutanese to return home," Subba said.
Bhutan's internal politics has undergone a major change since Jigme Khesar Namgyel's father, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, promised to introduce a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy in December 2005.
He abdicated a year later, and in March, Bhutan held its first parliamentary elections.
But refugee leaders argued that Bhutan's recent political transformation is not democracy in the real sense.
"One-fifth of the country's population is living in Nepal and has been ignored and the king didn't allow them the right to register political parties," said Teknath Rizal, a prominent Bhutanese refugee leader. "Many people inside Bhutan didn't get to vote."
"The king of Bhutan may also bear the same fate as the king of Nepal if he turns a deaf ear to our problems," warned Rizal, who served as adviser to the royal council in Bhutan for four years before he fled the country in the early 1990s.
Nepal's former king Gyanendra was forced to abdicate as the country's parliament voted for the abolition of the monarchy in 2007.
According to the United Nations refugee agency, about 107,000 Bhutanese refugees were living in seven UN-run camps in eastern Nepal at the beginning of the year.
Last year, the United States announced that it was willing to resettle more than 60,000 refugees. Other countries - including Norway, New Zealand and Canada - also said they would resettle refugees.
The resettlement programme began earlier this year, and about 5,000 refugees have left so far for the United States and other countries.
Several rounds of talks between Nepal and Bhutan to resolve the crisis and repatriate the refugees have so far failed.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Not all Bhutanese can get resettled
Source: The Kathmandu Post
POST B BASNET
BELDANGI (JHAPA), Oct 23 - Like many of his countrymen, Hom Bahadur Dahal, 50, a Bhutanese refugee from Beldangi camp in Jhapa district, rushed to sign up for resettlement in the United States earlier this year. He felt his days of hardship were finally over.
His neighbours in the camp are now all set to fly abroad for resettlement but not Dahal. His hopes suddenly ended two months ago when he was rejected for resettlement in the United States.
"My family had opted for resettlement to begin a new life in the United States, but my application was rejected," says Dahal, a former corporal in the Bhutanese Army. However, the applications of his son's four-member family and daughter were accepted.
For Bhutanese refugees, the reason why U.S. officials rejected Dahal seems bizarre at best. The paper handed over to Dahal explaining why he was rejected reads: You are ineligible for refugee status because it has been determined that you ordered, incited, assisted, or otherwise participated in the persecution of others on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
"You were a member of the Bhutanese Army that was involved in the persecution of ethnic Nepalese in Bhutan," Dahal quoted U.S. Homeland Security officials telling him.
"I am myself a victim of ethnic cleansing. I cannot even think of committing atrocities against my people," says Dahal. He appealed for revision of the decision, but to no avail.
According to Dahal, he had been serving in the Bhutanese army at Paru Guincha, northern Bhutan, when Nepali speakers were being evicted from Bhutan.
Three months after his parents were evicted from Bhutan in 1991, Dahal was sacked from his job and asked to either leave Bhutan within a month or face persecution.
In the chilly winter of 1992, Dahal and his family joined a refugee caravan flocking to neighboring India. A few months later, he ended up in the refugee camp in Jhapa.
He is now separated from five members of his family, including two grandsons -- five-year-old Manish and nine-month-old Anish. They are soon leaving for the U.S., leaving Dahal, his wife Lilamaya, 45, and one of his sons behind in Nepal.
The U.S. embassy here said that it does not have a policy of commenting on individual cases.
According to Ram Bhandari, a refugee activist at Beldangi, refugees have been rejected on the grounds that they made material contributions to the Bhutan People's Party (BPP) or supported the underground Bhutan Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist).
"I don't get why they reject settlement for BPP supporters as the party's youth wing - Youth Organization of Bhutan (YOB) is operating from the U.S. itself?" Bhandari said.
Bhutanese refugees say resettlement forms of some three dozen Bhutanese refugee teachers who sang revolutionary songs during Tihar festival last year have not been processed.
"Generally, we do not grant resettlement permission to individuals that have been affiliated to groups involved in acts of violence or have serious criminal convictions," said Nicole Chulick, U.S. embassy spokesperson.
According to her, about 8,400 Bhutanese refugees have been interviewed and around 20 have been refused permission to resettle in the U.S.
The U.S. had initially announced resettlement of 60,000 refugees, but said this number could increase if there is interest among refugees.
Kimberly Roberson, senior durable solutions officer at UNHCR, said the UN office cannot question why a host country has rejected resettlement of a particular person.
"Every country has its own laws," she said.
She said that those who have been rejected for resettlement by any country should tell the UNHCR about themselves and it would direct them toward resettlement in some other suitable country.
Besides the US, New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, Canada, Norway and Netherlands are also resettling Bhutanese refugees.
Working to help his people, again
Source : Syracuse.com
Thursday, October 23, 2008
By Maureen Sieh
Urban affairs editor
Hari Adhikari nearly lost his life when he began advocating for the more than 100,000 Nepalese-speaking Bhutanese deported from their homes.
He was imprisoned seven times in the 1980s and early 1990s, tortured and beaten for opposing the government's decision to force his people to leave the only home they had ever known in Bhutan, a small South Asia country bordered by India and Tibet.
Adhikari next helped his people find food, shelter, health care and education in seven refugee camps in neighboring Nepal. He traveled internationally to raise awareness of their plight.
When the effort to bring his people home failed, Adhikari urged the international community to take in the refugees. The United States agreed to take 60,000 refugees.
After fighting for his people for years, Adhikari is now their man in Syracuse, the first person who greets his fellow Bhutanese when they arrive here to start a new life.
Catholic Charities, which has resettled 115 Bhutanese, hired him as a case manager after he moved here in March to help settle the refugees, many of them he knew from the camps.
More than 200 Bhutanese have arrived here, more are expected. It's the latest wave of refugees who have resettled in this region.
In the last three months, Adhikari, 47, has put in some long hours. He made trips to the airport to pick up new families. He scrambled to find them a place to stay. He takes them to the grocery store and medical appointments.
He's also learning a lot about the American system and the amount of paperwork needed to process the refugees through the Department of Social Services, Social Security and other agencies. Last week, he traveled to Buffalo to help some of the Bhutanese families.
"I feel it is my duty as a community man, not only as a staff member, to see that our community is doing well," he said.
A familiar face
When Kazi Gautam, 27, arrived at Syracuse Hancock Airport on May 19, he was thrilled to see Adhikari's familiar face.
Adhikari took Gautam and his wife, Santi, who was pregnant with their first child, to his home on the city's North Side for a traditional Bhutanese dinner - hot curry made with chili and cheese, chicken, rice and vegetables. After dinner, Adhikari took the couple to their apartment on Elm Street.
"I was exhausted from a long distance (journey)," said Gautam, whose wife gave birth to their son, Bassan Ethan, on July 15. "When he was there to receive us, we were happy."
Kip Hargrave, director of the Catholic Charities refugee program, said he was all set to hire someone else for the job, but Adhikari came up to him one day and said, "you should hire me."
"He just knows the culture and he knows all these people because of his work on the international level," Hargrave said. "He's gone to all the different camps and he's met all the Bhutanese refugees. He knows them all and he's brought them together as a community."
An activist is born
In Bhutan, Adhikari quit his teaching job to open a footwear store.
In the mid-1980s, he took up the cause for his people when the government started a campaign to suppress the Southern Bhutanese because they were prosperous farmers. The government tried to convert the Nepalese-Bhutanese from Hinduism to Buddhism and imposed a national dress code on all ethnic groups.
Women were required to wear the kira, a thick floor-length rectangular piece of cloth wrapped around the body over a blouse and the men wore the gho, a long robe-like dress that extends to the toes.
Many of the poor villagers who sold produce in the markets couldn't afford the national dress, Adhikari said. The dress, he said, is heavy and would be too hot to walk around in the summer months when people are carrying large bags of produce on their heads.
Street vendors who wore shorts and a T-shirt were harassed, fined and jailed for failing to wear Bhutan's national dress, Adhikari said.
"You can make this compulsory for people who work in offices, why do you make it compulsory for people in the market and all public places?" he asked. "This is how I got involved in the movement of human rights for the people."
The dress code was just one of the tactics the government used to deport the Nepalese-speaking Bhutanese - descendants of Nepalese agriculturalists who migrated in the 19th century to Bhutan, a landlocked country that sits in the middle of the Himalayan Mountains.
Bhutan granted them citizenship in 1958, but the government revoked it in the early 1990s and called them "Lhotshampas" or illegal immigrants.
They had to prove their citizenship by showing 1958 tax receipts, an impossible task for most, Adhikari said. Those without tax receipts were considered second-class citizens, he said.
In 1975, the government tried to deport Adhikari's parents, but they appealed and were allowed to stay in the country.
"We have sacrificed a lot. My parents didn't want to leave everything behind. My fathers' brothers and my grandparents were given 13 days to leave the country," he said. "They're in Nepal."
During the 1990s, some families were split up - parents were considered Bhutanese, but the children were not, he said.
"Many families got this decree that they didn't pay their taxes, they made them second-class citizens," said Adhikari, whose parents were born in Bhutan. "How can members of one family be separated? We raised the issue with the king and they started arresting people, and they arrested me."
Arrests, beatings
The first time Adhikari was arrested was in 1984. He spent three days locked up in the bathroom of one of the government offices.
There would be six more arrests from 1984 to 1991. The longest time Adhikari spent in jail was 18 months. During that time, he was beaten and tortured for telling the guards that they couldn't make people cut fire wood for the army and not pay them.
"The police constable was asked to jump on my legs," Adhikari said, talking about his arrest in 1991. "The pain was so much I would cry like a goat. Some people were killed. They beat me in the back with a cane, those were the kinds of torture.
"They hanged me upside down and blood came from my nose and mouth and they still wanted me to be hanging there," he said. "They used to (say) that if we're hanged and three quarters of blood is taken from our body, you will die."
A year later, he was released after Amnesty International visited Bhutan and urged the government to release all prisoners.
After his release, the government forced Adhikari to sign a statement saying he would stop speaking against the government. Then, the police took him to the India-Bhutan border, beat him and forced him to sign another statement saying that he was voluntarily leaving the country and had taken all his belongings. The government took over his store and sold everything in it.
Continuing the fight
In Nepal, he got involved in a human rights group that advocated for the Bhutanese people and worked with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, which managed the camps.
He started classes to offer refugees computer training, teach them weaving and tailoring. He helped enroll children in school.
In between his human rights advocacy work, Adhikari organized peace marches to Bhutan in 1995 and 1996. About 35,000 people participated in the marches.
When those efforts failed, he began pushing for refugee resettlement in 2002.
Not everyone was pleased with the resettlement idea. Adhikari was threatened and beaten by an armed rebel group that wanted the refugees to stay in Nepal to help mount an uprising against the Bhutanese government.
"I was thinking I couldn't do much more for the people to establish peace and a democratic culture in Bhutan," Adhikari said. "The camp is not a secure place for people to live."
Adhikari stressed that he was committed to finding a peaceful solution to the refugee problem. On May 27, 2007, he was at a meeting when rebels blew up his hut in the camp and beat his parents.
A May 29, 2007, article in The Times of India reported that "a mob of refugees attacked Adhikari" and set fire to the camp office as well as a police station."
"My family had to leave the camp," said Adhikari, who last September received the Ambassador for Peace Award from the Universal Peace Federation, an international organization which works to foster world peace and freedom. "They believed that if they kill me, nobody will be talking about resettlement."
Syracuse: a new home
On March 4, Adhikari arrived in Syracuse with his wife, Uma, and their two teenage children, Heman, 17, and Leena, 15. Three months later, his parents, a brother and two sisters arrived.
Adhikari was still looking for a job when he found out about the vacancy for a case manager at Catholic Charities refugee program.
He used to volunteer and paid attention to what the case managers did. He applied for the job because he thought it would be a natural fit.
As more families arrived, Adhikari has gathered them on Saturday mornings at Rose Hill Park on Lodi Street to meet new families, talk about their adjustment and learn about American life.
He runs the Saturday meeting the same way he ran meetings in the refugee camps. He gives people a lot of helpful information, but he also lectures them about the importance of helping each other and working hard to succeed in America.
But he's worried about the refugees' future because of the economy. Refugee resettlement agencies are trying to help people find jobs, but it's not easy, he said.
"Everyone is saying the U.S. economy is down. This is not going to help the refugees that are coming," Adhikari said. "Come on, do something that brings the economy up. These are people who will be contributing to the society. We're hardworking people, peaceful people."
Maureen Sieh can be reached at msieh@syracuse.com or 470-2159.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Demand for repatriation
Kathmandu, October 21: A group of exiled Bhutanese led by chairman of Human Rights Organization of Bhutan S. B. Subba submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal Monday urging the Nepalese government to take up efforts for repatriation.In a memorandum submitted to PM Dahal, the group claimed resettlement to third countries was against the international standards which caused confusion on some exile Bhutanese who are ‘not farsighted’ and Nepalese diplomats.
The memorandum stated that resettlement has brought negative impact in camp life such as weakening security situation, family split, suicide, decreasing interests on student towards education among others.
However, there have not been any reports of suicidal cases in the camps since the resettlement process began.
The group demanded suspension of resettlement process unless Bhutan clearly states it position, organize a round table meeting among Nepal, Bhutan, India and representatives of the exiled Bhutanese and formation of a special committee to look after the issue among many. Bhutan News Service
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Non-Druks seek to resettle in West
BELDANGI (JHAPA), Oct 17 - Facilitating settlement in western countries of Nepali nationals posing as Bhutanese refugees who no longer live in camps has become a lucrative business for some here lately, police said.
On Sunday, police arrested Amrita Darji, 30, a Bhutanese refugee in Beldangi, Jhapa, on a charge of forgery. She has confessed to police she received Rs 100,000 in initial payment for helping one Mukti Dahal, a Nepali national, fill a resettlement form, posing as her missing brother Raha Darji.
''Of the Rs 225,000 promised her, she had received Rs 100,000," said Inspector Mahesh Bista of the Armed Police Force at Beldangi. Dahal and two other Bhutanese accomplices -- Kiran Gurung and Bikram Gurung -- are still at large.
Some western countries including the United States are resettling the Bhutanese refugees. So far, 5,000 have been resettled, mostly in the United States, while 57,000 have applied for resettlement.
Inspector Bista said that a powerful racket seems to be involved in this business. "But very little can be said with certainty until Kiran and Bikram Gurung are arrested," said Inspector Bista. "From this [Darji's] arrest, we understand this type of activity is going on secretly in the refugee camps," he added.
According to Ram Bhandari, a former camp management official at Beldangi Camp -2, both the camp management committee and the Refugee Coordination Unit (RCU) set up by the government have to certify a person as a Bhutanese refugee before a resettlement form is processed.
RCU official Khem Raj Khanal and Beldagi Camp-2 management committee secretary Narad Mani Sanyasi denied having certified Dahal as a Bhutanese refugee.
When asked about this, Bimal Khatri, UNHCR public relations officer at Damak, said police are investigating the case and the truth will come to light only after the investigation is wrapped up.
Darji's case is not an isolated one in the refugee camps, according to Ram Bhandari.
Only five months ago, when Pasang Lama, 32, of Beldangi Camp-2 returned to Nepal after spending two years in a monastery in Sikkim, he was shocked to see the photo of an unknown person in the resettlement form filled in his name.
According to him, around 1,000 Bhutanese refugees have gone missing from the seven UNHCR-run refugee camps. He said some of them had joined the Maoist insurgency in Nepal and others were settled in remote parts of Nepal and India.
Over 108,000 Bhutanese refugees have been living in the seven UNHCR-run refugee camps in Jhapa and Morang districts after being evicted from Bhutan in the 1990s.
Nepalese expelled from Bhutan head for US to seek new life
The 36 hours of flights from Nepal’s capital Kathmandu to New York was the first international flying experience for the refugees
IN Zurich’s gleaming airport, Bhutanese refugee Dambari Kumari Adhikari was exhausted but amazed. “Look at this place,” she said as she gazed in wonder at the neat roads and sleek modern buildings outside the transit terminal. “I doubt Nepal could ever be a tenth of this place.”
The 56-year-old ethnic-Nepali refugee was on her way to start a new life in the United States after more than a decade living in a hut with her family of five adults and three children. Along with 31 other refugees, Adhikari was embarking on a unique resettlement programme with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). She is one of more than 100,000 refugees of Nepalese origin who left Bhutan in the early 1990s and have been living in United Nations refugee camps in southern Nepal ever since.
“I felt I had to leave Bhutan because I was scared for the safety of my family,” said Adhikari who was a widow when she fled, walking six days to Nepal through India in 1991. Despite her dearest wishes Adhikari is not allowed back to Bhutan, so she has chosen to make a new start in the US.
“I would rather go to America than stay in camps for the rest of my life where I have already ruined my children’s future,” said Adhikari, as she travelled to the US with two of her five adult children. “At least in the States, they can have a second chance.”
The 36 hours of flights from Nepal’s capital Kathmandu to New York was the first international flying experience for all the refugees.
Dressed in traditional bright red sari and with a Buddha necklace around her neck, Adhikari carried a tattered white bag covered in IOM stickers. “I am more nervous than happy right now. I have no idea how my life in the United States is going to be,” she said. “I speak no English and I am too old to learn any new tricks.” Adhikari was joining her two sons and a daughter who have already been resettled in Seattle and found jobs.
“I am just so glad and lucky I will be around my family. I have no one left in Nepal,” she said.The US might be the land of opportunity, but “for an old woman like me, the opportunities will be limted,” she said.
Whatever the challenges in starting anew, Adhikari is convinced she has made the right choice. “Camp life was hard and primitive. We had two rooms for a family of five adults and three children. Water, electricity and toilets were luxuries,” she said. After being evicted from eastern Bhutan, Adhikari raised her family alone in Nepal’s Goldhap refugee camp, one of seven UN settlements. “It’s hard raising a family in a refugee camp,” she said. “My children have no citizenship, no money and few opportunities.”
The US and six other countries have agreed to take at least 60,000 Bhutanese refugees, and after endless negotiations between Nepal and Bhutan, Nepal has allowed the refugees to head abroad.
“The decision by the government of Nepal to allow Bhutanese to leave the country is like a good dowry gift for a daughter getting married,” said Adhikari as she clutched a plastic bag with her documentation to enter the US. On the flight from Zurich to New York, Adhikari began missing dal-bhat, Nepalese rice and lentils with pickles and when told by the flight attendant that only European food was available, she made a face and turned the food down. “Why is all the food so sweet? Do they put sugar in everything?” she said.
“I’ve only been away for 24 hours and I have already started missing Nepalese food. How can I live without rice and lentils?” As she touched down in her new home, she looked at her 23-year-old daughter and sighed with relief. “We refugees suffered too much. Everyone has their day and I believe our day has come,” she said. afp
Dreams of home fade for Bhutan's expelled Nepali refugees
Subedi is one of 100,000 Bhutanese of Nepalese origin who fled Bhutan in the early 1990s after compulsory national dress was introduced and the Nepalese language was banned.
The new regulations sparked protests which led to a harsh clampdown by authorities.
"I gave up wanting to return about a year ago," said the 53-year-old once-wealthy farmer in the sprawling Beldangi refugee camp that sits next to rice fields in southern Nepal.
"We have spent too long in this camp where we are forced to live like beggars and rely on United Nations handouts," said Subedi outside his simple hut.
Bhutan's government says the people who left in large numbers in the early 1990s were either immigrants who had settled illegally in Bhutan or people leaving Bhutan voluntarily.
"Life in the camps is often much better than that prevailing in Nepal, India or Bhutan. This is the reason so many people have congregated in the camps claiming to be refugees," Bhutanese spokesman Kinzang Dorji told AFP.
But human rights groups have said the refugees are victims of an ethnic cleansing campaign that saw one-sixth of Bhutan's 600,000 people forced out.
Nepalese farmers began settling in what is now Bhutan hundreds of years ago, and numbers increased through last century due to the underused fertile land in the foothills of the Himalayas.
The ethnically Nepalese farmers were given Bhutanese citizenship in 1958, and many in the camps still hold onto their documents in the hope that they might one day get their land back.
Subedi still has his papers -- and is in no confusion about his status.
"I am a refugee. The Bhutanese forced me to leave. I was in hiding because I had taken part in peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations in 1990 and my wife was tortured," he said.
The governments of Nepal and Bhutan have held 16 fruitless rounds of negotiations over the refugees and, with no sign they will ever be allowed back, many like Subedi have given up hope.
-- Giving up the right to return --
The chance of a new start arose for the 107,000 camp residents in 2006, when the US offered to resettle at least 60,000, with Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark and Norway agreeing to take smaller numbers.
But the resettlement offer caused serious tensions between factions in the camps.
Radical Bhutanese Maoist groups have bombed the offices of the International Office of Migration (IOM), the organisation resettling the refugees.
And they have attacked empty buses returning from the airport after dropping off refugees to begin their long journeys overseas.
Five thousand people have already been resettled, and those who want to stay and campaign to be allowed back into Bhutan are losing ground, with around 50,000 of the refugees registered to leave the camps.
Refugee leader Bhampha Rai was surgeon to Bhutan's royal family before he fled in 1991, and he thinks the refugees who have applied to be resettled are making a huge mistake.
"Most people think America and these other countries are heaven but they are not. The refugees lack skills and are going to really struggle when they get there," said Rai.
He believes that by agreeing to resettlement, the refugees are giving up their claims to Bhutanese nationality, and allowing the issue to fizzle out.
"The people leaving are not thinking about the long-term consequences of their actions," said the leader, who has seen support for his standpoint dwindle.
"Once they go they will find it very hard to revive their nationality and are unlikely to be allowed ever to come back."
Deoka Bharati, 27, is committed to remaining a refugee in Nepal, even as she watches many of her friends depart.
"We are not very hopeful of being able to go back, but if we are here at least the dream of returning is kept alive," said Bharati, who teaches children in a town near the camp.
"If we are in a third country there will be no chance at all."
Despite fleeing Bhutan in the middle of the night with just the clothes she wore, Bharati is firm in her decision to stay.
"In my heart I am Bhutanese, and I don't think I will find a good life abroad. Bhutan is my motherland, I grew up there and I want to go back."
