Non-Druks seek to resettle in West

Source: eKantipur.com

POST B. BASNET

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.

One arrested for counterfeiting non-Bhutanese under TCR

Source: Apfanews.com

Nepal police at Kakarvitta arrested Nabin Paudel (name changed), 30, of Beldangi-II who was involved in luring Nepali citizens for third country resettlement in America two weeks back.

According to sources at security, five Nepali citizens from Pokhara and Solukhumbu have filed a case against Paudel for tugging 18, 00,000 Nepalese currencies.

Paudel, who was shifted to Hanuman Dhoka Kathmandu last week for further investigation confirmed Bhutan News Service that he has taken at least 3, 50,000 Nepalese currencies from them in different transactions within three months. However, he denied that the money was transferred into his account not for luring them into resettlement process but for business purpose.

"The have claimed many times more than the real transaction", cried Paudel. "I got heavy physical torture during interrogation" lamented he.

An ICRC certified victim of torture in Bhutan, Paudel showing his ICRC-btn-245 number urged for his safety in police custody.

"I make humble appeal to ICRC and UNHCR, through Bhutan News Service, that I should not be inhumanly tortured" he cried.

According to Paudel, he spent five years rigorous jail term inside Bhutan's jail before he moved to Nepal. He has wife and two children.

Non-Bhutanese resettled in US: APFA Bhutan

Source: Nepalnews.com

Association of Press Freedom Activists (APFA) Bhutan has said a non-Bhutanese refugee has been resettled in United States, using fake identity as a Bhutanese refugee from Beldangi 2 camp in Jhapa district.

According to a statement by the association, a non-Bhutanese has been sent to US after completing resettlement process at the International Organization of Migration (IOM) in the name of Padam Lal Poudel, 52, from Beldangi 2, Sector D/2 Hut No 24.

The association quoted a family member of Poudel as saying, "The inquiry section of IOM confirmed that someone matching my father's information has
already got resettled in the US."

The matter came to light after Poudel's son inquired at the IOM to know why his father's resettlement process had been delayed while other families whose interviews began at IOM along his family already left Nepal.

He was informed by the people at IOM reception that there are many such cases.

There were media reports saying some non-Bhutanese have been making efforts to go US under disguise.

APFA said IOM offices in Damak and Kathmandu, UNHCR office in Kathmandu and UN embassy in Kathmandu denied talking on the issue.

The association demanded that original identity of the person being resettled be made public by the concerned agencies - date of his departure from Nepal, place where he has been resettled along with photo - and urged IOM, UNHCR and US embassy to take precautionary measures to ensure that non-Bhutanese are not be resettled.

US embassy says no non-Bhutanese has been resettled in US

Source: Nepalnews.com

The American Embassy has said no non-Bhutanese refugee has been resettled in the US and that recent news reports saying a few people have managed their way to the US, as refugees, are unfounded.

"There have been several reports published in Nepal that contain factually inaccurate information regarding refugee resettlement in the United States. UNHCR and the U.S. Embassy confirm that all refugees resettled so far have successfully gone through an exhaustive process and have been confirmed to be genuine candidates for resettlement.

The embassy further said, "Each refugee who is resettled goes through an extensive screening process, first by UNHCR, second by IOM, then by representatives of the resettlement country, in this case by officials of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security."

The identity of each refugee is checked several times against a data base containing the refugee's picture and finger prints, the embassy added.

IOM sends non-Bhutanese under resettlement to US

Source: Apfanews.com

Amidst reports that non Bhutanese are being processed for third country resettlement identifying themselves as Bhutanese, Bhutan News Service (BNS) has identified a case of that kind.

A non Bhutanese has been sent to US after completing resettlement process at the International Organization of Migration (IOM) in the name of Padam Lal Poudel, 52, from Beldangi II, Sector D/2 Hut No 24.

"Other families processing together have already left but we are still waiting for the DHS interview", said son of the victim who went to IOM, Damak office to know the reasons of delay Monday morning.

"The inquiry section of IOM confirmed that someone matching my father's information already got resettled in the US", he told BNS.

"I was just returned from the reception without letting to talk to senior officials" said he adding two persons at the reception in just said, "It is not only yours, there are several such cases''.

According to Poudel's son, his family has already got two special numbers assigned by IOM, and there are five members under his father's group. In April, IOM split his family into three groups for easy processing.

An IOM staff at Damak told BNS that no information through telephone is entertained to any media. She said, "Sorry I cannot help you", and added "Better talk to Kathmandu office".

When BNS contacted IOM office in Kathmandu, they simply directed to contact the US embassy for verification. However, the US Refugee Coordinator was out of reach, when BNS attempted to seek clarification.

On repeated calls to IOM Kathmandu office, one of the officials said "Media matters related to IOM are to be discussed with either United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or the US embassy in Kathmandu".

UNHCR office in Kathmandu also denied providing information on status of the person being resettled as Bhutanese in US, citing reason of protection according to its policy.