A Ray Of Hope For Refugees

The one hundred thousand plus Bhutanese refugees languishing in the seven different camps in Eastern Nepal since the last ten years might have seen a ray of hope of returning back to their country when the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ms. Sadako Ogata said that Bhutan was willing and committed to solve the refugee issue. The UN High Commissioner recently completed visits to Bhutan, Nepal and India, the first ever by such a senior UNHCR official. Speaking at different occasions in Nepal last week she had said that her talks with the Bhutanese King and his government were very ‘positive’. But it might be too early for the Bhutanese refugees to think that they would be going back to their homeland any time soon if the past attitude of Bhutan is to be considered.

Nepal and Bhutan have already held eight rounds of ministerial talks and several round official level talks. But those talks have failed to make any significant progress towards finding a solution to the issue. Bhutan has always been finding one or the other excuse for lingering and prolonging the issue. This can be proved by the fact that both the countries had agreed in 1993 to categorize the refugees into four groups and verify their authenticity. But no progress has been made on the verfication process. This is mainly because the two countries have failed to agree on a common modality. The verficiation of the refugees is seen by Nepal as a concrete evidence that those living in the refugee camps are genuine Bhutanese, who have been forcibly evicted by the Bhutanese government. The verification will, undoubtedly, put pressure on the Bhutanese government to take back its citizens and thus resolving the issue. Nepal’s former foreign secretary had even said that the once the verification process starts it will be the beginning of the end of the refugee issue. This could be the reason that Bhutan has been hesitating to agree to the process of verification.

Now, the 9th ministerial level meeting is expected soon, possibly this month. But the date for the meeting has not been fixed. This meeting will substantiate true intentions of the Bhutanese government. If the Bhutanese government still remains adamant and stubborn towards finding a credible verification procedure, it will only show their double standard. However, the Bhutanese government may already be under pressure from the international community and the UN body. The visit of the UN High Commissioner and her statement that the forthcoming minister-level meeting must find a way for the verification of the refugees, and that the first refugees should be packing their bags for their journey home point at the importance the UN body has now given to the problem. The UN High Commissioner’s offers of mediation if asked and the use of the Commission’s database for identification and authenticating the refugees also shows the urgency the world body has given towards resolving the problem as soon as possible. The UN body’s recent initiative may also indicate that it cannot continue supporting the refugees for ever. The UNHCR has been providing the majority expense for keeping the refugees. Certainly, Nepal, the UNHCR or other organisations, which have been helping the refugees, cannot keep on bearing the burden of the problem, which can be solved amicably.