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Note no. 473
19-Sept.-2008
BHUTAN: The Refugee Issue Lingers on: Update No. 72
By Dr. S. Chandrasekharan.
With US and other western countries willing to take over 70,000 refugees for third country settlement it was thought that the contentious refugee issue will gradually die down. But it does not appear to be so.
Despite initial opposition, over 45000 refugees have already given their consent for third country settlement. With reports coming from outside, of the refugees being looked after well and getting settled in the new environment, it is likely that this figure may go up further.
Another surprise was that many of the refugee leaders who were very vociferous about the condition of the refugees in the camps were the first to leave for third country settlement whereas it should have been the other way!
There was a case of a refugee family already sending their savings of 1000 US$ to other relatives still in the camps and this news has spread to all the camps.
Yet, there are many holdouts who surprisingly have taken a radical position and insist on repatriation and nothing short of it. The political parties that have come up in the camps are also looking for some kind of endorsement of the “right to return” of even those who have already gone abroad.
The US Ambassador to Nepal Nancy J. Powell has hinted that the figure of 60,000 the US had agreed to, is not the limit. She said that the “US will consider for resettlement any refugee that expresses interest.”
4000 refugees have so far been resettled and this process may continue for several years. Last month a second group of refugees landed in Australia. They were excited about their new homes but were stressed on account of the fact that they had to separate from the society they grew up with. They, as well those who had settled so far in other countries had only one fear- whether they, as devout Hindus will be permitted in due course to visit places of pilgrimage in India and discharge their obligatory religious duties in India. It is hoped that the GOI will not place any hurdles in letting them visit India in due course. This is the least that India can do after having let them down and made them suffer in the camps in eastern Nepal.
Kuensel of August 6, 2008 carried a news item that gave the impression that the stalled talks on the people in the camps are set to resume. It reported Prime Minister Lyonchhen Jigme Y.Thinley saying that “the two governments had agreed to continue the talks.” The PM of Bhutan is said to have told the Nepalese Prime Minister (who has since given up the post) in the SAARC meet that the Bhutanese government was looking forward to continuing the discussion so that the problem could be solved as quickly as possible.
With an overwhelming number opting for third country settlement, what are the talks going to settle now when seventeen years have passed and no progress on repatriation has been made? Who among the refugees would like to go through the ordeal of physical verification and the laborious and time-consuming procedure for verifying documents etc. of the families? They would still have come forward if they had some hope, but there are none at present.
Any fresh verification and classification into four slots now would only complicate the issue.
Technically speaking, those 900 and odd refugees who have been verified to be Bhutanese citizens by the joint verification team of Kudenabari camp, cannot opt for third country settlement a they are no longer refugees. The responsibility now devolves on Bhutan to take them back. So far, not a single refugee has been repatriated to Bhutan.
Nepal is now under a new dispensation with a coalition government led by the Maoists. The Maoists even before they came to power were not for third country settlement and had been demanding that the refugees should be repatriated to Bhutan. In the draft CMP prepared by the Maoists to be placed before the 25 parties, “repatriation of refugees” figured high on the agenda.
On the eve of the departure of PM Prachanda to India, the NFD (National Front for Democracy in Bhutan) made an appeal to him to take timely measures and appropriate mechanism to find out an amicable solution to the “exiled Bhutanese crisis.” There are no reports to indicate of Prachanda taking up the issue with the Indian authorities.
Also some of the radcialised youth of the CPB (Maoist) continue to be active. Kuensel of 27th August mentioned about the recovery of 20 improvised explosive devices from a member of CPB (M) in Sikkim and the arrest of two persons in connection with the theft. One of those arrested is said to have belonged to the Khudanabari refugee camp.
On August 26, two bombs that were being assembled in Sanichare camp exploded. The security post outside the camp confirmed the blast but no casualties were reported.
It is said that many of the refugees from the camps are working in some of the projects in Sikkim. They have access to explosives also. The disturbances in southern Bhutan are at a very low key for the present but could increase in the days to come if steps are not taken in time.
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