Speed Up Process
AFTER a long, long delay the Nepal-Bhutan Joint Verification Team (JVT) is beginning to
categorise the already verified Bhutanese refugees from today, Tuesday. This is somewhat a
forward movement in the long stalled Nepal-Bhutan talks on the repatriation of refugees.
This will mark the first time in 14 long months when the JVT is getting down to work.
Then, the JVT had verified more than 12,000 Bhutanese refugees through a painfully slow
process of verification a the Khudunabari camp, one of the seven UNHCR-administered camps
in eastern Nepal. The hopes that these verified refugees would be repatriated soon were
effectively dashed by Thimpu when it continued to postpone the ministerial joint committee
meeting and the planned categorisation process did not start. The 12th round of the
meeting finally took place earlier this month after some determined initiative from the
Nepali side. At the meeting, the Thimpu side agreed to start the categorisation of the
verified refugees. Some watchers of the Bhutanese refugee issue took that as a positive
sign, though there are many who prefer to wait before pronouncing that Thimpu has had a
change of heart. Indeed, there is also a feeling among those fighting for justice on
behalf of the Bhutanese refugees that in finally relenting to have the 12th round of
talks, Bhutan had in sight the planned eighth round-table meeting of Bhutan Aid Group in
Geneva when its donor partners were expected to criticise its foot-dragging over the
refugee issue. Be that as it may, the Nepalese team that has left for Thimpu to work on
categorisation must clearly impress upon their Thimpu counterparts that the categorisation
of Khudunabari refugees must be completed without delay. Extra alertness in not agreeing
to any delaying tactics by Thimpu is called for. The Nepalese side will have to remember
that the Khudunabari verification was a long drawn-out affair and there were legitimate
fears that at such a rate, verification of all the refugees could simply take years before
it was complete. If even the categorisation process of the so far very limited number of
verified refugees also gets bogged down on some Bhutanese pretext, then the hopes
currently raised by at least the start of the categorisation will turn out to be
misplaced. Thimpu should heed the advice from the recently-concluded Bhutan Aid Group
meeting in Geneva that, according to a report, urged it to resolve the problem as soon as
possible.
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