Mounting Pressure on Bhutan

The sudden presence of a sizeable chunk of Kathmandu based diplomats of powerful countries in the midst of the now agitating Bhutanese refugees in the Eastern Terai plains of Nepal must have at least given the impression to the refugees languishing there in almost hellish conditions that their agitation is being taken proper note of and that countries which had their representation to the camps were really serious about their plight.

By time this write up will appear, the Geneva consortium of the donors will have finalised their financial commitments to Bhutan but then yet what we suppose is that by time the donors will converge in Geneva, their Kathmandu based diplomats will have also sent messages to their respective countries suggesting not to fund Bhutan without any strings attached. In this case, let’s hope that the donors in Geneva will or will have amply exhibited their displeasure against Bhutan for her dilly-dallying the entire process of the taking back their own citizens back. At least this could be hoped this time that the donors of Bhutan who have himself observed the traumatic and the inhumane conditions in which they were languishing in the refugee camps and who have also seen as to how the Bhutanese side exhibiting its total neglect in taking back its own citizens must have instructed their governments to put, if need be, some extra pressures on the recipient country so that the latter is left with no other options to heed to the terms of the international community including that of a country which has been facing the music of the refugee issue since all along past thirteen years or so.

How a tiny country like Bhutan is be-fooling Nepal, the country that has been forced to face the brunt of the One Lakh plus refugees and how a country like India which allowed the smooth passage of the refugees through its territory at time of the Bhutanese exodus is remarkable. While Bhutan is lingering the issue as if the entire problem were not of hers but of the country that has been housing the refugees for so long, then equally interesting is the total reluctance of the third country, India, which facilitated the exodus through its territory as if the refugees belonged to Nepal, in mediating the issue to the satisfaction of both the countries, that is Bhutan and Nepal. It is India notably that has been blocking the march of the Nepal based refugees to Bhutan through its territory. This is intriguing and meaningful indeed.

However, the presence of the US Ambassador Michanel E. Malinowski together with his powerful colleagues based in Kathmandu in the refugee camps this time raises some hopes that the Bush Administration too wishes the early repatriation of the refugees Back to Bhutan. It should be noted here that the Clinton Administration had at the fag end of its tenure taken some interest in solving the Nepal-Bhutan imbroglio to the mutual satisfaction of the both by sending its Assistant Secretary of State Carl Inderfurth and Madame Julia Taft to the camps to look for themselves the true picture of the refugees and upon their return to Kathmandu had stated that Bhutan will be pressed to take her genuine citizens back. With Clinton being replaced by President Bush, the American interest in this affair took apparently a back seat. However, the presence of Ambassador Malinowski in Sanischare camp the other day raises some hope that the incumbent American administration has not altogether shelved the refugee issue for good.

Let’s hope that the countries this time visited the Refugee camps would do the needful and help repatriate the refugees with dignity and honor which what they all wish.

Headline | National | 5 Question  | 2nd Impression | International | Past