National 3 (Spotlight Weekly)

After The News

A high-level UN probe team steps in to put out a raging controversy

By A CORRESSPONDENT

When a large number of refugees are forced to live in cramped quarters like the Beljhundi camp for an extended period of time, the possibility of criminal and violent activities rises.

As Nepal enters a long phase of political uncertainty, the impasse resulting from the influx of some 100,000 Bhutanese refugees over a decade ago remains far from resolved. As Bhutan is a small country, with a little more than half a million people, the repatriation of such a big number of refugees could create new turmoil.

Bhutanese refugees : No Succor

When the refugees living in the confined camps in eastern Nepal claim to be victims of the Bhutanese government's harsh policies, the host country cannot remain indifferent to their right to return home. The longer the refugee imbroglio lasts, the greater the possibility of a recurrence of criminal and violent acts that took place in the camp recently.

"Action has been taken against responsible employees working at the United Nation High Commission of Refugees (UNHCR) office in the refugee camp and the Nepalese government has taken action against others involved in the incident," said Abraham Abraham, UNHCR officer in charge, who led the probe team.

Following the incident, another high-ranking UNHCR official visited the refugee camps at Beldangi and Sanishare. Jean Marie Fakhauri, chief of the Asia-Pacific and Oceania region, also met high-ranking government officials and Bhutanese refugees.

In the last two years, there has been a rise in criminal activities in the camps. A senior refugee leader was assassinated and there have been a few other cases of murders of refugees. The recent sexual assault indicated the extent of the vulnerability of the refugees.

Blame for the recent incident was placed on then-chief of the UNHCR Nepal Office Michel Dupoizat, who made sincere efforts to sort out the refugee problem by stepping up the process of verification. "The recall of Dupoizat, who served as representative of the UNHCR office in Nepal for five years, is a big blow to the verification process," says a former Nepalese diplomat on condition of anonymity. "It will take months for Dupoizat's successor to understand the complexity of the refugee problem."

About 100,000 Bhutanese refugees have been living in the camps in Jhapa and Morang districts for the last 12 years. Desperate and frustrated, the refugees do not know how long the verification process will take and when they can even start dreaming of going back home. Following the visit of then-chief of the UNHCR, Sadako Ogata, to Bhutan, officials from both countries agreed to initiate the verification process to identify genuine refugees. Thimpu insists that not all camp inmates are refugees, maintaining that many left the country voluntarily.

A large number of Bhutanese refugees are reported to have been coming out of the camps to work in the local areas. This raises the possibility of new tensions in the local communities. Such conflicts would eventually hamper the process of verification and repatriation. As Nepalese and Bhutanese officials are yet to fix a date for their next meeting, the refugee stalemate seems set to linger on.

Following the dispatch of the high-level UNHCR probe panel, this particular controversy has been put to rest. The responsible Nepalese officials in the camp and other concerned persons are said to have been penalized in accordance with the law. However, sexual assaults and exploitation are difficult to prevent in refugee camps without the full and sustained cooperation from all concerned parties.