NATIONAL 6 -(Spotlight Weekly)]

Relief Row

A leading aid agency decides to withdraw from the Bhutanese refugee camps, citing serious differences with the UNHCR

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

Oxfam was one of the very few relief agencies present to greet the first batch of Bhutanese refugees entering Nepal 10 years ago. The UK-based group conducted welfare and advocacy programs, including non-formal education for the elderly and women and training in income-generating skills for women.

But from January 2001, Oxfam has decided to phase out its program from the refugee camps. "We couldn't continue our programs as we ran into some differences with the UNHCR," said Meena Poudel, Country Program Manager at the Oxfam Nepal Office.

Refugees in their camp : Waiting for repatriation

According to Poudel, Oxfam was left with no choice than to pack its bags after the Nepal office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) asked it to do things that ëwe couldn't digest'. "They (UNHCR) said that we should use our international network to promote the products produced by refugees in the regional and international market. But we think that will adversely affect the livelihood of the local community and ultimately lead to social conflict," said Poudel.

UNHCR, however, refuses to buy her opinion. "What we thought was that by marketing their products abroad, we could help refugees gain some experience when they finally return to their home country," said UNHCR Representative Michel Dupoizat. He said he was disappointed that Oxfam decided to discontinue its operations. "We appreciated and will continue to appreciate the quality of services and the professionalism of Oxfam."

Another point raised by Oxfam was that the UNHCR failed to take sufficient action to curb rising crime and violence against women in the refugee camps. "They were more concerned with care and maintenance in the camps than the early and full repatriation of the refugees," Poudel said. If the situation does not improve, she added, the refugees may slowly start getting assimilated in the general population.

Dupoizat, however, says the UNHCR's first priority is to see the refugees repatriated soon and in accordance with the agreement reached by Bhutan and Nepal. Meanwhile, sources said another INGO, Save the Children Fund (UK), has also decided to withdraw from the refugee camp. They could not be reached for comment.

Nearly 100,000 refugees from Bhutan are languishing at different camps in eastern Nepal. Nine ministerial-level meetings between Nepal and Bhutan over the last 10 years have failed to resolve the problem.

"Already there are signs of impending social conflict as refugees are found working outside the camp at very low wages and thereby displacing Nepalese laborers," said Poudel. "If the refugee problem is not solved soon enough, Nepal will have to face a lot of other problems."

However, there are some signs of improvement in the refugee impasse. The last few months have witnessed a flurry of activity on the part of Nepalese authorities to internationalize the issue. As a result, US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Karl Inderfurth visited Nepal and Bhutan to "press the two countries to agree for a resolution".

"We are nearer than ever before to a resolution to the problem. But it needs the willingness, goodwill and a degree of pragmatism on the part of both Nepal and Bhutan to reach to a solution," said Dupoizat.

A decade after the problem first emerged, the refugee issue is slowly snowballing into a major problem for Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world.