10,000 Displaced as Blaze Engulfs Refugee Camp

Source: The Himalayan Times

At least 10,000 Bhutanese refugees have been displaced after a massive inferno burnt down nearly 1,350 huts at a refugee camp at Goldhap of Garamani VDC of Jhapa last night.
Four refugees were injured in the incident while a child is missing, police said. Among the 1600 huts in the camp, only 250 could be saved.

The fire spread from the kitchen of the hut of Kedar Dhakal at around 6 pm while all the members of the family were taking meal. They were rescued by neighbours. The fire then gutted 1,350 huts within four hours before it was doused at around 10 pm with the efforts of fire fighters from Bhadrapur, Mechinagar and Damak, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force personnel, Nepal Army personnel and locals.

SP at Jhapa district police office Rajendra Shrestha said Narayan Bhujel (17), Tilak Pokhrel (19), Tara Niraula (20) and Homnath Acharya (18) were injured in the blaze and they are being treated at Mechi zonal hospital. The name of the missing child is not known.
After the inferno, refugees have been stranded in nearby jungle, schools, food go-downs and open fields.

Dozens of livestock animals were reportedly killed in the blaze. The exact extent of the damage is yet to be assessed.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula this morning made an on-site inspection of the Bhutanese refugee camp. Sitaula acquired information about the extent of the damage and the situation of the victims. Preliminary estimates said the inferno caused damages worth tens of millions of rupees.

283 Exit Permits issued, first group to leave in mid-March

Source: Apfanews.com

Government of Nepal has so far issued 283 Exit Permits to exiled Bhutanese whose pre-resettlement processes have completed.

"We have an official deployed at Damak to issue Exit Permit to those who wish to adopt third country resettlement" said Sahana Pradhan, Minister for Foreign Affairs.

In a radio interview with one of private FM stations in Kathmandu Pradhan said "First group of Bhutanese would leave to America latest by mid-March".

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.