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Kathmandu Thursday October 12, 2000 Aswin 26, 2057.
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A blow for repatriation
The Royal Government of Bhutan
has thrown cold water over all efforts made so far by Nepal and the international
community to resolve the issue of refugee repatriation. In its latest move, the Bhutanese
government has dealt a severe blow to the process by killing the UNHCR formula for refugee
verification. Over hundred thousand Bhutanese refugees have been languishing since ten
years in the camps of eastern Nepal. They are the products of an ethnic cleansing campaign
perpetrated by the Bhutanese regime. It involved persecution, incarceration and forceful
eviction of the Lhotsampa (Bhutanese of Nepali ethnicity) and the eventual resettlement of
the abandoned lands and property with Northern Bhutanese. The only crime of the Lhotsampa
community was to ask for democracy and human rights. The despotic regime evicted one sixth
of its population.
In the last ten years, the
Nepalese and Bhutanese sides have held nine rounds of bilateral talks and failed to
resolve the issue of repatriation mainly on account of Bhutanese intransigence.
Apparently, the deadlock was over the process of verification. Obviously, the Bhutanese
were looking to take back as less number of refugees as possible since they were relying
mainly on the fact that they had confiscated citizenship and property documents and also
forced many of the Lhotsampas to sign papers renouncing Bhutanese citizenship. Besides,
they had also already classified the refugees into various categories who did not qualify
to return. The Nepalese side had in turn insisted on verification through the head of
family. There was a ray of hope for the Bhutanese refugees when UN High Commissioner for
Refugees Sadako Ogata visited Nepal and Bhutan. After her visit, the UNHCR brought forth a
compromise formula calling for individual verification for refugees above the age of 25
and identification through family head. Although the Nepalese agreed, the Bhutanese
dilly-dallied then. Now, they have rejected the UNHCR formula also. Not only has the
Bhutanese regime rejected the UN proposal, it has also ignored the resolutions of the
European Parliament (EC). The EC had passed a resolution in 1996. This year also, its
resolution in September called upon India to help resolve the problem. The Nepalese
government had made this request a long time back. However, India has always maintained
that this is a bilateral problem to be sorted out between Nepal and Bhutan, despite the
fact that India controls both Bhutan's defence and foreign policy and it also happens to
be the first land of transit. Perhaps, this is what encourages the Royal Government of
Bhutan to defy all international pressure.
Obviously, the Bhutanese
rejection has come as a big blow to the refugees. This is all the more reason why
international pressure on Bhutan must increase. At the same time, it must be borne in mind
by all Bhutanese people that as long as there is no democracy and respect for human rights
in Bhutan, refugee repatriation will be impossible and probably also meaningless because
it will not be a repatriation with dignity.
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