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Kathmandu Friday December 28, 2001 Paush 13, 2058.
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Verification and hope of
Bhutanese refugees
By Mandal JN
The bonhomie of Bhutanese refugees in seven
different camps is low as no decision on their fate and future destiny has been reached
even after the completion of the verification process at the Khudunabari camp. It took the
Joint Verification Team (JVT) 153 days to complete the verification of 1964 families and
about 12,500 individuals. Every day refugees were ferried by arranged private transport in
two shifts from Khudunabari to the JVT office, Damak, a distance of about 50 km. It was
very interesting to note people boarding and alighting from the bus with cheerful faces of
satisfaction and hope that they would soon be back in Bhutan, the land where they were
born and brought up and where their forefathers had toiled and overcome a series of
turmoil to make it what it is today.
The verification work was never interrupted nor
disturbed by the refugees. Instead, the work of the JVT and other staff of His
Majesty’s Government of Nepal (HMG/Nepal) involved with the refugees, particularly in
the verification, was appreciated and close cooperation was extended by the camp
committee. Some of the Bhutanese organisations kept a close watch on the process and were
always ready to extend their help to complete the verification as early as possible. They
were further encouraged by time-to-time statements from the Foreign Ministry of Nepal that
the repatriation would start any time as soon as the verification was over. But to
everyone’s dismay, immediate repatriation seems remote though the verification was
practically over on December 14, 2001. No concrete decision has been reached so far. The
process that follows immediately will have to do with harmonisation and categorization,
nomenclature and perhaps the end to the Bhutanese refugee saga.
Everyone is confused by the stalemate in the
refugee problem. Before completion of the verification, the Secretarial Level Talks were
held in Kathmandu from November 6-8, 2001 to avoid suspense about the fate of the
refugees. Unfortunately, the talks ended in impasse because of both the governments
sticking to their own stances. The Royal Government of Bhutan (RGOB) did not budge from
its old stand and insisted on four refugee categories: Bhutanese who have been forcibly
evicted, Bhutanese who have voluntarily migrated, Non-Bhutanese and Bhutanese who have
committed criminal acts. Whereas HMG Nepal insisted on two categories: a) Bhutanese and b)
Non-Bhutanese.
The two differing positions on the same issue
are keeping the two governments from coming to a common point of resolution. The main bone
of contention is category 2---Bhutanese who have "voluntarily migrated". Bhutan
claims that the people in this category have filled up their migration forms, taken
compensation for their land from the government and left the country. It also says that
according to the provisions of the law of the land, these people cannot be accepted back.
On the other hand, the refugees argue that they were made to sign the "voluntary
migration" forms at gunpoint and evicted from the country. They also ask how a person
can migrate without any prior arrangement with another country and wish to become. They
also claim that they have a lot of movable and immovable property in Bhutan where they
have lived for generations. They never knew before what Nepal looked like. They still feel
themselves like strangers in Nepal.
Bhutanese refugees started coming to Nepal for
asylum since 1991. Initially, only a few families arrived and eked out their livelihood
with the help of local supporters. But gradually the numbers started increasing and there
was an time when more than 10,000 people arrived in one week as the RGOB reportedly took
harsher steps against the southern Bhutanese. Now there are seven camps hosting about
100,000 refugees in the two districts of Jhapa and Morang in Eastern Nepal. The camps are
managed by His Majesty’s Government of Nepal and UNHCR and implementing partners. In
an endeavour to find an amicable and permanent solution HMG Nepal initiated dialogue with
the RGOB in 1993. Besides, there were international efforts of a similar nature to help
resolve the protracted Bhutanese refugee problem. After seven years of consistent
persuasion, did the two governments finally agree at the eleventh round of bilateral talks
held in Kathmandu December 25, to carry out verification of the refugees in the camps. As
agreed, the Joint Verification Team consisting of 5 members each, was formed and the
verification exercise started from Khudunabari refugee camp on 25th March 2001.
The team has verified 1935 families and 12091
individuals with the exception of 489 absentees and a few marriage cases. Now the next
step is not yet fixed. Apparently, no decision will be taken before the eleventh SAARC
summit in Kathmandu from January 4-6, 2002. The heads of states or governments will be
discussing and signing documents on terrorism, girl trafficking, HIV/AIDS, poverty
elimination, regional trade, etc but not on the Bhutanese refugees issue which is, of
course, one of the burning issues in the region as one member country is bearing the brunt
of refugees dumped by another member country. Even after the ministerial level talks, it
is not certain that the two governments will arrive at any concrete resolution if the RGOB
continues to hold to its own previous position. And if the mechanical strategy to speed up
the verification in other camps is not improved, the process is going to take years to
complete, given the delaying tactics of the RGOB. On the other hand, it should also be
remembered that the enduring capacity of people, especially the youths who have spent
eleven years in the camps in hope is fading. From the increasing frustration in the camps
coupled with the anti-social activities doing the rounds, some aggressive activities are
bound to take place anywhere, either in Nepal or in Bhutan. In that case, who will be
responsible? Whom to blame? Bhutanese refugees have patience when we look at the
aggressive or even subversive activities in similar situations in other parts of the
world. Therefore, something concrete should be worked out to rekindle their hopes before
their patience wears out.
However, the Royal Government of Bhutan should
not put the lives of the 100,000 Bhutanese refugees at stake. Both the Governments should
sincerely do some soul-searching to reach a peaceful and permanent solution acceptable to
the refugees. They should not be left in limbo with their fate undecided. The verification
in other camps should be started outright within a time frame and all the verified
Bhutanese refugees should retain the right to return to their homesteads with safety,
dignity and honour.
(The author is deputy director of Refugee
Coordination Unit)
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