No Major Breakthrough Yet

-By Jawahar Manandhar

'This time they are more positive’ were the optimistic words expressed by the Nepalese foreign secretary before the beginning of the second secretary level talks between Nepal and Bhutan on the ten-year old Bhutanese refugee problem. Contrary to the expectation of the Nepalese side the secretary level talks seems to have evolved no major breakthrough except preparing a common ground for the verification of the refugees such as joint examination of the documents, printing of the proforma, sharing costs and outlining the work procedure of the verification team. However, it should be regarded as a step forword in the sense that the differences between the two sides on some key issues, as said by the Foreign Ministry, have been narrowed down which would be helpful in preparing groundwork for the next ministerial-level meeting to be held soon.

Whether the next ministerial-level meeting, the ninth one, would be the last one before the actual verification begins can only be conjectured because each time in the last several meetings the euphoria of reaching towards a solution has been shattered causing uneasiness to Nepal and aggravating the discomfort of the refugees.

Eventhough, the Bhutanese side continue to be indifferent towards finding a solution to the problem, the 100,000 plus Bhutanese refugees who have been languishing in various camps in the eastern part of the country. They have been contributing directly or indirectly to the increasing number of various problems in the country. It may be too early to assess the impact the refugees problem has been creating in the country’s socio-economic, environmental and, to some extent, criminal aspect at the moment but it is certain that if the issue were allowed to linger on for few more years it might go out of proportion.

The whole issue has been concentrated on the verification of the refugees which have been divided into four groups: bonafide Bhutanese, Bhutanese who have migrated, non-Bhutanese people and Bhutanese who have commited criminal acts which was agreed upon by both Nepal and Bhutan why back in 1993 ministerial - level talks but even after the two sides agreed for the categorization, the situation is the same as far as the repatriation of the refugees is concerned. At this juncture it can be said that commitment and cooperative attitude from the Bhutanese side is what is needed most which makes a great difference in tackling the  problem. It should also be noted here that the Bhutanese refugees forced to languish in the UNHCR maintained camps in eastern Nepal claim that most of them were forced to sign the voluntary migration forms before they were forcefully evicted from Bhutan.

As for Nepal it has been consistently showing its political commitment to solve the  humanitarian problem once and for all. However, it should not be forgotten here that the solution to the problem is becoming elusive after Bhutan rejected to take back refugees other than the first category.

Now Bhutan seems to become flexible in its stance on the involvement of the second catetory refugees after the eighth ministerial level talks held last year. Now that it has been theoretically agreed to prepare common ground for the verification of the refugees it would not be hoping against hope that a concrete step is taken for the final solution to the refugee problem and that Nepal is not deceived any more.