National 7 (Spotlight Weekly)

Persisting Impasse

Despite official optimism, analysts fear Bhutan may be under no international pressure to end the impasse, particularly as the whole world's attention is diverted to the war in Iraq

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

Just as the Maoist problem is on its path towards resolution, with both parties having announced a cease-fire and peace code, there is a faint glimmer of hope on another front that has been nagging Nepal. The governments of Nepal and Bhutan have agreed to introduce voluntary repatriation form that could pave way for resolving this 13-year-old problem.

Last week, Foreign Minister Narendra Bikram Shah said the Bhutanese-refugee impasse could end soon. Shah who returned to Kathmandu on March 26 after taking part in the two-day 13th ministerial meeting with his Bhutanese counterpart in Thimpu, said the refugees verified by the Joint Verification Team (JVT) at the Khudunabari refugee camp in Jhapa district of eastern Nepal could fill up the form and return to their native land. "We have agreed upon a modality whereupon those who fill up the forms, as per the international norms, will be repatriated," said Shah.

Refugees : Waiting to return

Until now, the JVT has only begun its verification campaign in Khudunabari, one of seven such camps run by United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) lying in different parts of eastern Nepal. There are more than 12,000 refugees in that camp alone. The verification is conducted as per the earlier agreement on the categorization of refugees into four categories: Bhutanese forced to leave; Bhutanese who emigrated willingly; Bhutanese with criminal records (in Bhutan); and non-Bhutanese. The current agreement on repatriation of Bhutanese refugees who fill up the voluntary repatriation form, however, will be applicable only to those belonging to the first three categories.

"The process of repatriation will begin as early as two weeks after the JVT completes its function in Khudunabari camp," said Shah. The forthcoming 14th ministerial meeting, scheduled to be held in Kathmandu in May, is expected to decide on the verification of refugees in the remaining six camps, officials said.

Meanwhile, representatives of refugees have reacted skeptically to the recent developments. "Refugees are yearning to return to their native land and their hopes are raised every time officials say they have made some agreement. Every time ministers return from Thimpu with promises of early repatriation. But nothing happens on the ground. This has been going on for the last one decade. So, we have no reason to believe it will be any different this time around," said Rakesh Chhetri, a refugee leader and analyst of Bhutanese refugee problem. "Even the high commissioner of UNHCR had promised there will be repatriation of refugees within two months. It is already more than a year since that promise was made."

Chhetri believes the Bhutanese government is in no pressure to solve the issue soon. "Nepal alone can do nothing. Due to the war in Iraq, the entire focus of international community has shifted. Until and unless there is real and persistent pressure from international community, the refugee repatriation will remain a distant dream."

He also expressed misgivings about the agreement on voluntary repatriation form. "A similar form was distributed by the UNHCR four years ago to no avail. Besides, there is no guarantee that those who repatriate will be given their original land and homes and will not be subjected to harsh discrimination which drove them away in the first place."

There are around 100,000 Bhutanese refugees living in UNHCR-run camps in eastern Nepal. They first came to Nepal in 1990 after these people, who are of Nepalese origin, were subjected to discrimination back in Bhutan.

"The people of Nepalese origin migrated to Bhutan long time ago. We went there along with Bhrikuti, (then Nepalese princess who was married to Chinese emperor), in the seventh century. Many Nepalese people migrated to Bhutan three centuries ago. But the present Bhutanese King evicted southern Bhutanese of Nepalese origin to cover his faults," said Hari Adhikari, general secretary of Bhutan National Democratic Party, who came to Nepal in 1990 following the "ethnic cleansing" by the Bhutanese regime. Before coming to Nepal as a refugee Adhikari used to be a member of Bhutan's National Assembly.

"Although the Bhutanese administration projects that people of Nepalese origin consist only 25 percent of its total population, they actually consist 43 percent," said Adhikari. At present the population of Bhutan is said to be around 600,000 not including the 100,000 languishing in refugee camps in Nepal.