Third country refugee settlement not a durable solution: Sahana Pradhan

Source: Nepalnews.com

Foreign Minister Sahana Pradhan has said that third country resettlement is not a durable solution to the Bhutanese refugee issue, and that there is a need to involve India in resolving this protracted crisis.

Speaking at a function organised jointly by Bhutan News Service and Nepal FM in Kathmandu on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the radio programme 'Saranarthi Sarokar', Pradhan said it was out of compulsion that the Nepal government accepted the proposal of western countries to resettle over 70,000 Bhutanese refugees.

She further said the receiving countries have assured of repatriating those refugees who cannot be resettled or do not wish to be resettled.

UNHCR country representative in Nepal Daisy Dale said over 23,000 applications have been registered at her office by Bhutanese refugees expressing their willingness to be resettled in third countries. She added that the international community would continue to advocate for repatriation of the refugees to their homeland even after the third country resettlement.

Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Interim Parliament Romi Gauchan Thakali said that Bhutanese refugee crisis is not an issue limited only between Bhutan and Nepal. “Humanitarian problem like this cannot be called a bilateral issue,” he added.

Chairman of Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) Subodh Pyakurel said the issue has to be taken to the international court of justice and should be raised seriously before the UN human rights council meets this April to review the human rights situation around the world.

Vice President of Bhutan National Democratic Party (BNDP) Dr DNS Dhakal said the resettling countries must guarantee the right to citizenship and restitution of looted properties whenever situation becomes favourable for repatriation of the Bhutanese refugees to their homeland.

Other speakers also stressed that repatriation is the best and lasting solution of the Bhutanese refugee issue than third country resettlement.

According to Vidhyapati Mishra, Manager of Bhutan News Service, 'Saranarthi Sarokar' radio programme is being aired from Nepal FM every Saturday and CJMC community radio on every Sunday. The programme produced by Bhutan News Service is also aired from Pathivara FM in Jhapa four times a week. nepalnews.com ia Feb 23 08

80,000 Bhutanese of Nepal-origin were preparing to leave for Nepal due to the local government's harsh treatment in recent days

Source: Kathmandu Post

Following the declaration of armed struggle by Bhutan Communist Party Marxist-Leninist and Maoist (BCP-MLM) in Bhutan, Drukpas, the indigenous Bhutanese, have allegedly started unleashing atrocities against Nepali-speaking Bhutanese here, and local authorities are not helping the latter.

According to victims, Drukpa employers are denying them their salary, while local administrators, almost all of whom are Drukpas, are beating them for no obvious reason. Some administrators have even begun threatening to force them into exile.

A bus driver, who is a Nepali-speaking Bhutanese, said one Ekka Drukpa, the owner of local Chima Travels, mistreated him. "Drukpa is close to the Bhutanese King. No one dares speak against him despite his atrocities," said the driver who recently faced Drukpa rage.

In another recent case, local police refused to register a complaint filed by one Ramesh Chhetri, an employee at Rinchen Supply Agency in Phuntsholing, after he was allegedly beaten up by his employer Rinchen Dorjee. "Dorjee stopped giving me my salary. Police refused to register my complaint against him," said Chhetri.

Most Nepali-speaking Bhutanese, who have been issued citizenships of 4th and 5th categories by the Druk government, have been doing low-class jobs for a living, local Tilak Chhetri informed.

"They are deprived of all government facilities," he said. The BCP-MLM recently owned up responsibility for the bomb blast that occurred in the southern district of Samchi on February 3, stating "it was aimed at destroying election related documents of the government and starting a war against the government."

80,000 more Bhutanese preparing to come to Nepal

Meanwhile, Bhutanese refugee leader Tek Nath Rizal said that as many as 80,000 Bhutanese of Nepal-origin were preparing to leave for Nepal due to the local government's harsh treatment in recent days.

Talking to journalists at Maidhar of Jhapa Tuesday, Rizal said, "The government has restricted free movement of Nepal-speaking Bhutanese, apart from denying them opportunities."

He claimed that no matter how many refugees are taken for third-country resettlement, many others will arrive in Nepal and deepen the problem.

He also charged that India was the main obstacle to the resolution of this problem.

He was of the opinion that the Bhutanese refugee problem would be solved only through repatriation.

Anti-US resettlement refugees arrested

Source: The Rising Nepal

Police from the Armed Police Force's base camp at Beldangi of Damak have arrested five Bhutanese refugees on the charge of threatening refugees willing for resettlement in the US and damaging the hut of a refugee in favouur of settlement in the US.

The arrested are Tikaram Bhattarai, pasang Lama, Khadga Bahadur Magar, Santosh Rai and Bir Bahadur Rai. They were arrested while they were damaging the hut of DP Moktan at sector B3 in Beldangi camp.

They were learnt to have been threatening Moktan of not even to think about resettlement in the US. Police said further investigation is ongoing.

First batch of Bhutan refugees to leave for US in March

Source: The Himalayan Times


The first batch of the Bhutanese refugees is scheduled to leave for the United States in March as part of the resettlement programme, and numbers are expected to increase by July.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) headquarters in Geneva has welcomed the government’s decision to issue exit permits to Bhutanese refugees who voluntarily opt for resettlement.

The UNHCR, in a statement issued today, welcomed the government’s decision of granting exit permits to Bhutanese refugees for third-country resettlement as a breakthrough in mid-January.

It said the government’s decision has paved the way for the large-scale movement of refugees who decide voluntarily to be resettled after spending up to 17 years in Nepal’s camps.
The exit permits allow refugees to leave the Jhapa and Morang camps for third countries once their cases are accepted.
The UNHCR said the group resettlement process, which started late last year, has been gaining momentum.

“Thousands of refugees have expressed interest, and the UNHCR has submitted the details of nearly 10,000 interested refugees for consideration by the countries willing to resettle them,” it added.

While the United States has offered to consider resettlement for at least 60,000 refugees from Bhutan, Canada has indicated it will accept up to 5,000.
Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway have also expressed willingness to accept the refugees from Bhutan for resettlement.

Blast in Bhutan:
THIMPHU: A bomb went off in Samste district of Bhutan on Monday while two bombs were defused ahead of National Assembly polls slated for March 24. A Royal Bhutan Police spokesman said the blast occurred behind a government office at Ghmauney village. “There were no casualties. Officials recovered leaflets of the Communist Party of Bhutan based in Nepal from the scene threatening to stop the National Assembly polls,” police said. — HNS

Refugees from Bhutan poised for new start

Source: UNHCR

DAMAK, Nepal, February 1 (UNHCR) – A new lease on life is within reach for thousands of refugees from Bhutan who have been living in Nepal's camps for nearly two decades. Within months, the first groups could start their lives in other countries, thanks to a recent decision enabling them to leave for resettlement.

The breakthrough occurred in mid-January, when the Nepalese government agreed to issue exit permits to refugees accepted for group resettlement to third countries. This decision paves the way for the large-scale movement of refugees who decide voluntarily to be resettled after spending up to 17 years in Nepal's camps.

The refugees first arrived in Nepal after fleeing ethnic tensions in Bhutan in the early 1990s. There are more than 107,000 refugees living in seven camps in eastern Nepal today.

Recognizing their desperate situation, the US has said it will consider at least 60,000 refugees for resettlement and Canada has indicated it will accept up to 5,000. Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway have indicated their willingness to accept refugees from Bhutan for resettlement.

"We are very thankful to the Nepalese government for the exit permits," said Daisy Dell, the UN refugee agency's representative in Kathmandu. "Resettlement offers a way out for thousands of refugees who see no future in the camps. At the same time, we continue to advocate for voluntary repatriation for those who wish to do so."

The resettlement process is a long one. Last November, UNHCR started a mass information campaign on durable solutions throughout the camps. Since then, it has interviewed thousands of interested refugees and submitted the names of nearly 10,000 individuals to several countries.

Further interviews are being conducted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and officials from the resettlement countries. Once accepted, the refugees undergo extensive medical screenings and cultural orientation to prepare them for their new life abroad.

The first refugee families are scheduled to leave in March, and numbers are expected to increase by July.

In the meantime, the camps are buzzing with discussions. "Resettlement is a very hot topic now. Everyone is talking about it – in school, in the markets," said Ganga,* a 21-year-old refugee in Goldhap camp. "We are in a dilemma. Our future here is uncertain. If there are good conditions in Bhutan, we will go back. But time is not favouring us."

Ganga is the eldest of seven children. Her father died a few years ago and her mother works on tea estates outside the camp for 70 rupees (US$1.10) a day. All the children are well educated and eager to help ease the family burden.

"If there is somewhere better than here, we will go," said Ganga. "I hope we can get some skills training in tailoring or [beauty] parlour before we go to a third country. If we have the opportunity, I believe we'll do well."

The older generation, however, feels differently. "At this moment, we are not thinking about resettlement at all. We're only thinking of going back to our land in Bhutan," said Birkabahadul Gurung, 72, who heads a family of 26 refugees in Goldhap camp. "The discussion inside our family is very friendly – I make the decisions and they accept."

Tensions have increased over opposing views in the camps, with unknown groups threatening some refugees in favour of resettlement. The local authorities have boosted security by deploying 25 police officers in each camp, creating an environment where the refugees can be free to make informed decisions.

For Ganga and her family, the waiting game continues. What's a few more months of caution compared to the 17 years in exile, she seemed to say as she shrugged: "Let the others go first, then we'll see."

* Name changed for protection reasons

By Vivian Tan
In Damak, Nepal

Nepal issues exit permits for refugees from Bhutan

Source: UNHCR

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 1 February 2008, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

UNHCR welcomes Nepal's recent decision to issue exit permits to refugees from Bhutan who voluntarily opt for resettlement. This allows refugees to leave eastern Nepal's camps for third countries once their cases are accepted, and is an important step towards finding solutions for over 107,000 refugees who have been in Nepal for 17 years.

The group resettlement process has been gaining momentum in the camps since it started late last year. Thousands of refugees have expressed interest, and UNHCR has submitted the details of nearly 10,000 interested refugees for consideration by the resettlement countries. The refugees are currently in various stages of the process, ranging from interviews to extensive medical screening and cultural orientation before departure.

The international community is coordinating with the Nepalese government and expects that the first groups of refugees will begin to depart in March, with larger numbers leaving for resettlement countries starting in July.

The United States has offered to consider for resettlement at least 60,000 refugees from Bhutan, and Canada has indicated it will accept up to 5,000. Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway have also indicated their willingness to accept refugees from Bhutan for resettlement.

While resettlement offers a welcome solution for those who voluntarily choose this option after 17 years in the camps, the UN refugee agency will continue to advocate for the option of voluntary return to Bhutan for those refugees who wish to do so.

Since the refugees started arriving in Nepal in the early 1990s, UNHCR has invested more than US$1.7 million in the host areas. Refugees and local communities in eastern Nepal have benefited from more than 1,000 activities in the areas of health, education, infrastructure and capacity building.

Story date: 1 February 2008
UNHCR Briefing Notes

Bhutan's ethnic cleansing

Source: New Statesmen

By:Bill Frelick

Bhutan’s image as an otherworldly and harmonious kingdom was rocked on 20 January by coordinated bomb blasts in the capital, Thimpu, and three other locations. The bombs caused minimal damage but generated political shockwaves at a time when the Himalayan state is struggling to transform itself from an autocratic monarchy into a democracy. The second-round of Bhutan’s first-ever elections, scheduled for 24 March, will test whether its embrace of democracy will include its entire people. The answer may determine whether change ultimately will be ushered into Bhutan by the ballot or the bomb.

Although Bhutanese police initially listed Nepal-based exile groups as their top bombing suspects, their suspicions were based more on their knowledge of historical grievances than forensic evidence. A hitherto unknown group, the United Revolutionary Front of Bhutan, claimed responsibility, saying that Thimpu’s changes were cosmetic and would not benefit all Bhutanese. Though such bombings are never justified, the alarms they sound should not be ignored. This salvo should warn the government to be inclusive in its experiment with democratization. To start, it needs to address a blot on Bhutanese history that remains unresolved.

In the late 1980s Bhutanese elites regarded a growing ethnic Nepali population as a demographic and cultural threat. The government enacted discriminatory citizenship laws directed against ethnic Nepalis, that stripped about one-sixth of the population of their citizenship and paved the way for their expulsion.

After a campaign of harassment that escalated in the early 1990s, Bhutanese security forces began expelling people, first making them sign forms renouncing claims to their homes and homeland. “The army took all the people from their houses,” a young refugee told me. “As we left Bhutan, we were forced to sign the document. They snapped our photos. The man told me to smile, to show my teeth. He wanted to show that I was leaving my country willingly, happily, that I was not forced to leave.”

Today, about 108,000 of these stateless Bhutanese are living in seven refugee camps in Nepal. The Bhutanese authorities have not allowed a single refugee to return. In 2006, the US government, seeing an impasse, offered to resettle 60,000 of the Bhutanese refugees. Processing has been slow to start, and the first refugees are not likely to depart until March.

After 17 years of deadlock, the coincidental synchronization of elections in Bhutan and resettlement of Bhutanese refugees to the United States plays into the fears of some refugees, who believe the US is conspiring with Bhutan to keep ethnic Nepalis from repatriating and asserting their rights. These refugees insist that return to Bhutan is the only acceptable solution and they are increasingly intimidating refugees who want to accept the US offer - through beatings, burning huts, and death threats.

Even if the Bhutanese government were to respect their right to repatriate under international law, its treatment of the ethnic Nepalis who still live in Bhutan suggests that the basic rights of returnees cannot be guaranteed.

A Bhutanese government census in 2005 classified 13 percent of Bhutan’s current population as 'non-nationals', meaning that they are not only ineligible to vote, but are denied a wide range of other rights. An ethnic Nepali non-national living in Bhutan told Human Rights Watch, “they don’t ask me to leave, but they make me so miserable, I will be forced to leave. I have no identification, so I cannot do anything, go anywhere, get a job.”

The militants should not deny their fellow refugees the choice of going to the United States or remaining in Nepal. But a genuine choice between resettlement, integration in Nepal, or return to Bhutan can only happen if Bhutan allows refugees to return and restores their rights. Bhutan should make citizenship available to all people with legitimate claims, including the refugees who can trace their statelessness to the events of the early 1990s.

If Bhutan aspires to be truly democratic, it should choose a path of reconciliation with the disenfranchised ethnic Nepalese inside and outside its borders. If instead it deliberately excludes many of its people, it may strengthen the hand of the militants and discover that simply holding elections will bring neither real democracy nor peace.

Extortion drive terrorises refugees

Source: The Himalayan Times

Bhutanese refugees at all three camps in Damak’s Beldangi were terror-stricken as Bhutan’s outlawed party the Bhutan Communist Party (MLM) launched its extortion drive there. The representative of the outlawed party started collecting money saying that the funds will be utilised for waging a people’s war in Bhutan, said a refugee at Beldangi-3. However, he said the refugees were asked to pay depending on their capacity.

Even teachers at the refugee camp were reportedly asked to cough up money. The BCP (MLM) was divided into two factions after a dispute sometime ago. General secretary of the breakaway group Bikalpa, issuing a press release today, claimed that they were not behind the extortion drive.
He also alleged that Birat faction was engaged in the extortion drive.
The statement said that people’s rights will not be revived in Bhutan till the monarchy remains there, and added that his party is the genuine one and is attempting to wage the people’s war in Bhutan.