Source: The Tri-City News
Local school officials and settlement workers are preparing for an influx of refugees from Bhutan expected to arrive in the Tri-Cities beginning in March.
A meeting is planned for Feb. 20 at Winslow Centre to bring school and community agencies together to figure out how to best meet the needs of refugee families who will be placed in low-cost housing, mostly in Coquitlam, and given the basics for starting a new life here.
“We’re trying to start a proactive process around bringing in a new community,” said Chris Friesen, the director of settlement services for the Immigrant Services Society of BC (ISS).
The Tri-Cities has been identified as the primary location for the settlement of between 800 and 900 Bhutanese currently living in refugee camps in eastern Nepal. Friesen said he expects about 150 people, including about 60 school-aged children, to arrive between March and June, with the rest to follow in 2010 and ’11.
The Nepalese-speaking Bhutanese have been living in refugee camps since the mid 1990s because of a policy of de-nationalization in southern Bhutan. Friesen said the resettlement poses some challenges because he will only get two weeks notice before the first group of refugees arrives — not much time to find housing or hire a Nepalese-speaking settlement worker and train them.
Friesen must also educate community and school officials on what to expect and how to provide services to the first wave of Bhutanese to come to B.C. since the federal government committed to accepting 5,000 Bhutanese refugees between 2008 and 2013.
Julie Pearce, School District 43 assistant superintendent, said the Feb. 20 meeting is “a gift” for administrators, teachers and counsellors, who are focusing their attention on ways to support the refugee families. Six settlement workers hired last fall through the provincially-funded Settlement Workers in Schools program will be introducing the new students and their families to the school system.
Pearce said the district is also looking at ways to improve its services for all refugee families. Among the changes the district is considering is centralizing reception services for refugee families, doing a better job of tracking students through the school system and improving English language services to adults.
“This is all fairly recent for our district,” Pearce said. “We’re exploring some different kind of models.”
Friesen said the Tri-Cities were chosen to house the refugees because Surrey already has a large Nepalese population and it was believed the Bhutanese should have their own distinct community, and because of the mountainous geography, which is similar to the terrain in southern Bhutan.
According to ISS statistics, the Tri-Cities are the second largest destination after Surrey for refugees to B.C. Most refugees to this area are from middle eastern countries.
dstrandberg@tricitynews.com
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
From Bhutan to Tri-City
First Bhutan refugees arrive
Around 160 political refugees from the tiny Asian country of Bhutan arrived in Denmark on Tuesday, reported public broadcaster DR.
The refugees are part of a group of 107,000 Bhutanese refugees who are in the process of being relocated after living in Nepal for the past 17 years. Most of the refugees are of Nepalese descent and were persecuted by the Bhutanese government, which believed that the ethnic minority was growing too quickly in Bhutan.
Denmark has agreed to accept 150 Bhutanese refugees annually for the next few years, with the US agreeing to grant asylum to approximately 60,000.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
One passes away in America
Her family sources said that she was admitted to Rose Medical Center as soon as she fainted and fell down. However, nothing could save her and she passed away.
Medical report cited that she had problems with her brain.
According to Shiva bhattrai, a resettled Bhutanese from Beldangi, the family of the deceased Adhikari has been performing her funeral rituals as per their Hindu tradition and culture.
All expenses for incineration of the dead body were supported by the Social Services of Colorado.
The Nepali community and Bhutanese folks are united to support the Adhikari family. The job-holding Bhutanese have contributed US $ 20 each and those without jobs US $ 10 each.
A Rizal Pandi from Sioux Falls has been deployed to conduct the function as per the Hindu religion for 13 days.
The first resettled Bhutanese to pass away in American soil, late Adhikari is survived by five children and husband.
By Nandi K Siwakoti, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Over 60,000 Bhutanese refugees want to resettle - U.N.
Source: Reuters
KATHMANDU, Jan 7 (Reuters) - More than half the Bhutanese refugees living in camps in Nepal for over 18 years want to resettle in Western countries under a scheme started last year, the United Nations refugee agency said on Wednesday.
More than 103,000 people of ethnic Nepali origin in southern Bhutan fled or were forced to leave in the 1990s after demanding greater rights and representation.
Bhutan says most of the refugees were illegal immigrants and left voluntarily.
Several Western countries, including the United States began resettling them last year after many rounds of ministerial meetings between the two South Asian nations failed to repatriate the refugees.
The U.N. said more than 8,000 refugees had already been resettled in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, the Netherlands and Denmark so far.
Another 18,000 were expected to find new homes this year, it said.
"We are pleased to see so many refugees starting their lives afresh after living in difficult conditions in the camps... and to learn that those resettled are adapting well in their new country," Daisy Dell, UNHCR representative in Nepal, said in a statement.
Since the programme started last year more than 60,000 refugees have expressed their interest to find new homes in the West, a U.N. statement said.
The U.N. also advocates voluntary repatriation to Bhutan for those refugees who wish to do so.
The Western offer for resettlement has left the refugees split with some wanting to go back to Bhutan while others want to look for better education and job opportunities in the West. (Reporting by Gopal Sharma; Editing by Bappa Majumdar)
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Recession Hits Refugees Hard
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
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.
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.
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."
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?
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.
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.
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."
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Choosing Australia with Bhutan in heart
Source: Nepalnews.com
By Indra Adhikari
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Bhawani's house in Bhutan shows that poverty was part of his life in that country as well. | |
Bhawani Acharya faced it twice when he had to change the way of his life. Two days before the festival of Dashain, he left Nepal for what he hoped as a wonderland.
In 1993, he was forced to flee his country of origin, Bhutan, to take asylum in Nepal – a country he had never seen before.
Acharya is among thousands of Bhutanese refugees to leave Nepal for resettlement to western countries, who have assured to absorb over 70,000 of them in the next five years.
However, this was, as the refugees themselves say, is not the solution of their choice but an alternative to get rid of their miserable life as refugees.
His eyes had welled up even though tears did not roll down the cheeks, when he talked to Nepalnews in Kathmandu before flying to his new homeland – Australia. The tears were reflection of his love and affection to his motherland, not of happiness, according to him. Bhutan, in recent years, talks of gross national happiness while over 100,000 of its citizens languish in Nepal, in UN-monitored refugee camps.
An illiterate, who was born in a remote village in southern Bhutan, Acharya had absolutely no idea what lies in store for him in a distant land, 'across the seven oceans' to borrow his words. Language barrier, culture shock, religious differences and separation from relatives have added woes to his elderly life.
Don't you like to be repatriated?
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Wife of Bhawani (middle in red blouse) outside her hut in Khudunabari refugee camp in Jhapa, eastern Nepal, before her departure to Australia. | |
He frowned and replied, "What are you asking? Bhutan is my country and I have the right to go back there. If not me, at least my children will go there. This (third country resettlement) is not a lasting solution."
His son and nephew were smiling when Acharya spilled over the sentimental statement. Nephew Dhyanu added, “Yes we hope to get back to that land from where we came. Australia is not our choice.”
US, Australia and Europe have been craze among residents of many countries, yet Bhutanese refugees put priority to their own homeland. It has astonished many, like rights activist Tapan Bose, who in an interview with Australian radio some months back said he was amazed by the choice of refugees.
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A nervous Dhyanu is all set to begin a new life in a new country | |
Dhyanu was merely seven years old when his family was evicted from Bhutan. He hardly remembers under what situation he lived or under what threats his family left Bhutan. Even though he grew up in Nepal, completed his Bachelors degree here, Dhyanu speaks of his affiliation and affection towards the land he was born to. He was the only one of his family to leave Nepal that day for Australia and was quite nervous from the separation.
Both these people can hardly imagine their life in an Australian metropolis. They are confirmed to be resettled in Melbourne, the second largest city of the Island-country. "I don't have any idea what I should do," Dhyanu says.
Nervousness had engulfed Bhawani more because he was not only illiterate but also has poor health and cannot do physical works. "Will I be a milkman?" he assumes about his work because he had little milk business while in camp that helped him buy vegetables and clothes for children.
"I will do anything that comes. After all, I have to live."
Dhyanu was a teacher in a boarding school while in Nepal. This has given no chance for him to acquire any professional skills that might be helpful for him in Australia. The orientation classes organised by resettling countries he attended made him more confused about choosing a profession. It was just like an information session on life and laws of that country.
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Bhawani still hopes his children will be able to get back to Bhutan one day | |
What Dhyanu and other family members of Bhawani, since Bhawani personally did not attend, learnt from orientation classes was that Australia has stricter laws. Dhyanu assumes he would have a hard time to adopt with the situation because he has grown up in Nepal where freedom has superceded responsibilities.
Bhawani rests his hope to live a decent life compared to his days in Bhutan and Nepal. He is more hopeful about the future of his children who are growing up and likely to get acquainted with the Australian society faster.
Above all, they hope to get back to their country to overcome the suppression Nepali speaking people have been facing in that country since two decades like this song says – we shall overcome one day. nepalnews.com Oct 11 08
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
More than 5,000 refugees resettled from Nepal
Source: UNHCR
KATHMANDU, Nepal, September 23 (UNHCR) - More than 5,000 refugees from Bhutan have left their camps in Nepal for resettlement countries so far this year. The United States has accepted the largest numbers, followed by Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Canada and Denmark.
The resettlement programme in Nepal began only this year but quickly became one of UNHCR's largest and most promising.
In total, 4,833 refugees have left for the US, 129 for New Zealand, 131 for Australia, 22 for the Netherlands, 19 for Norway, 16 for Canada and 13 for Denmark.
More than 50,000 refugees have expressed interest in resettlement - just under half of the total 107,000 refugees originating from Bhutan who live in seven camps in eastern Nepal. Some of them have been in exile for as long as 17 years.
"Five thousand departures mean that 5,000 refugees are now starting their lives afresh," said Daisy Dell, the UN refugee agency's representative in Kathmandu. "The resettlement process has been going very smoothly, thanks to close cooperation between UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration [IOM] and the resettlement countries."
She added, "We are especially grateful to the Nepalese government for facilitating the whole process, including hosting the refugees for so many years and now issuing them exit permits promptly."
Those who left have not forgotten about their friends back in Nepal. Many have written letters about their new country and new life.
"As a matter of fact, resettlement could be the best chance to rebuild our lives," said one of the refugee women resettled to the US. "Although starting over is not easy, there is a programme for everyone with the resettling agencies, no matter what age, qualification or gender. We have
seen other former refugees doing well, so we can do it as well."
According to another refugee in the US, the elderly are a little worried about their culture and day-to-day religious life. "We hope to build a Hindu temple nearby," said a recent arrival from Nepal. "We have to preserve our culture. The nearest Hindu temple is a one-hour drive away."
In Nepal's camps, UNHCR staff hold regular meetings with the refugees to answer questions about resettlement and other durable solutions. Special information sessions are organized for women at risk or people with disabilities. Refugees are being offered English language classes as well as additional vocational and skill-based training to prepare for a life in a
new country.
Another 2,000 to 3,000 refugees are expected to leave Nepal for third countries by the end of this year. At the same time, UNHCR continues to advocate for the option of voluntary return to Bhutan for those refugees who wish to do so, and hopes that talks on repatriation can restart soon.
