National 3 (Spotlight Weekly)

Sudden Turn Of Events

The refugee repatriation has once again landed in a limbo after the Bhutanese JVT members returned in a huff

By SANJAYA DHAKAL

After years of exercise, the Nepalese government had just been able to convince their Bhutanese counterparts to take back the refugees. However, on the eve of the likely beginning of the repatriation of refugees, a sudden and unexpected turn of events have once again shrouded the whole thing in uncertainty.

Dr. Thapa : Unforseen development ?

When some refugees, who were apparently irked at the provocative and derogatory remarks made by the members of the Bhutanese side of the Joint Verification Team (JVT) led by Dr. Sonam Tenzing while he was delivering terms and conditions for the repatriated refugees, manhandled them, the Bhutanese team left for their country without informing Nepalese officials.

The incident was followed by charges and counter-charges from the two governments. While the Bhutan government described the incident in Khudunabari camp as ‘unprovoked act of violence’, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it was a ‘spontaneous reaction’ from the refugees.

“It is a matter of surprise that the press release of the government of Bhutan on the matter said that the incident was unprovoked, premeditated and due to lack of security from the host country,” the Ministry stated.

“The conditions explained by the Bhutanese officials went on to say that refugees belonging to Category 2 will have to live in transit camp for at least two years, that too in the capacity of a foreigner without any freedom of movement and access to internal social security,” the Ministry spokesperson Dr. Madan Bhattarai said. They also declared that Bhutan would not consider any case for review from the appeals of people put in Category 3, whereas Nepal and Bhutan were yet to finalize the matter as mandated by the 15th Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) meeting.

The Bhutanese refugee leaders were quick to deplore the incident. The Bhutanese human rights leader Tek Nath Rizal, who had been saying that the repatriation of refugees should not take place until and unless there is a favorable environment for refugees back home and the Bhutanese government guarantees to locate them in their ancestral lands, also deplored the incident. Nepal government, however, had maintained that they are not responsible for what happens to refugees once they return to Bhutan. “The truth is that the Bhutanese officials have been prolonging the impasse on one pretext or the other,” Rizal said. But the role of the Bhutanese refugee leaders, too, has not been helpful in this regard. When the 15th ministerial meet broke the ice and there was likelihood of the repatriation of refugees, they simply were indifferent to it.

After 13 years of non-progress, the Nepalese government had been able to at least convince the Bhutanese officials to repatriate refugees belonging to three categories – out of four. “At the 15th ministerial meet, Bhutan had agreed to take back refugees of three categories – the Bhutanese who were forced to migrate, the Bhutanese who migrated voluntarily and the Bhutanese who have committed crimes,” said Dr. Bhekh Bahadur Thapa, the ambassador-at-large. Dr. Thapa had worked hard to reach this agreement with Bhutan.

Dr. Thapa expressed dismay at the recent development. “I don’t know what this will mean for the repatriation process. I will talk with Bhutanese ministers and officials next week in Islamabad,” he said.

Although the issue of repatriation has been affected for the time being, to what extent will it damage the resolution of the issue remains to be seen.