Bhutan: The Refugees are crying out for justice-Update
no. 27.
by Dr. S. Chandrasekharan
Finally it had to happen. The Bhutanese Refugees, frustrated with lack
of progress in repatriation to their homes, have started a non violent
protest movement in the form of "Satyagraha" in the Kudenabari
camp. Kudenabari camp is the only camp of the six, where verification was
completed more than an year ago.
The reasons for starting the protest movement were
* There were no signs of the Bhutan King relenting on the issue of
return of even lawful citizens who are languishing in the camps.
* India for reasons best known, continues to sing the tune that it is
a bilateral issue between Nepal and Bhutan to be sorted out. The Indian
Ambassador at Kathmandu reiterated the same position in his talks at the
meeting of the Reporter’s club this month.
* The efforts of Human rights organisation and the Amnesty
International to bring justice to the refugees have yielded no
results.
* The UNHCR has been giving indications that their support may not
continue indefinitely and that it may terminate in the next two years.
* Nepal beset by its own internal problems has little time for the
refugees who at any rate are too far away from the capital at
Kathmandu to make any political impact. Some of the politicians who
should have taken up the cause, seem to have been mesmerized by the
wining and dining as guests of Bhutan government when they visited
Bhutan on the invitation of the Bhutan government.
With all avenues closed the refugee groups have started to take the
issue in their hands without the involvement of the political parties. On
January 2nd, the camp Secretary of Kudenabari camp and the
programme coordinator of the camp management committee issued a press
statement declared that "We, over a hundred thousand Bhutanese
nationals languishing in refugee camps can no longer remain as refugees.
We want to lead normal lives as any human on earth." A legitimate
demand indeed. The refugees also made an appeal to the international
community to listen to them and put pressure on both the Nepalese and
Bhutan governments to resolve the problem.
On 7th January, a group of refugees from the Kudenabari
camp went on an indefinite hunger strike to press their demands. On the
first day 116 refugees including 68 women participated. On the following
days, relay fasts are taking place. Each day over a hundred refugees
participate in the day and another twenty five in the night. There has
been enthusiastic response of volunteers from all the camps. Ex ministers
from Nepal and the media from Nepal and India have visited the camps.
There has been support from the refugees from all the camps and it is
expected that relay fasts will continue indefinitely.
A three-member delegation of the Bhutanese Refugee Repatriation
Support Group (BRRSG) led by Shailendra Kumar Upadhyay, a former foreign
minister visited Delhi to lobby international support for the
repatriation of the refugees One of the members termed the refugee
crisis as one that is no longer confined to Nepal and Bhutan alone, but
as an international problem and to be solved through international
mediation. The delegation appealed to the donor countries to withdraw
their aid to Bhutan.
It is said that a high level delegation comprising envoys and
representatives from foreign missions based in Kathmandu will be
visiting various refugee camps. It is expected that the delegation would
also include representatives from the European union.
The protest movement has all the elements to snow ball into a mass
mobilisation movement. The demands of the protesters in the
Kudenabari camp are basically three in number. Firstly they want the
results of the verification made in the camp by the JVT (Joint
Verification Team) be made public. They have checked among themselves
and have discovered that over 90 percent of the inmates of the camps
have valid documents of their citizenship and have a suspicion that
Bhutan is deliberately withholding the details with a view to delay the
process. The second demand is to repatriate those genuine refugees back
to Bhutan and they are not interested in the sophistry of
"harmonisation" prior to repatriation as is made out by
Bhutan. The third which is equally a legitimate demand is to continue
the process of joint verification in the camps without further delay. It
is not clear why the refugee groups should not demand Nepal to
unilaterally release the figures if Bhutan refuses to do so. One way
would be for Nepal to withdraw from the talks.
Observers who have visited the Kudenabari camp say that there is
"tremendous enthusiasm" of the inmates of the camps to
continue the "mass fasting" and sooner or later other camps
will be joining this movement.
Enter Tek Nath Rijal: Tek Nath Rijal who was released from jail
after ten years on 17th December 1999, under international
pressure has been keeping out of the camps in the hope that he would be
given an audience by the King when he can put forth his views on the
refugee problem and find a solution to ensure " stability, peace
and prosperity" of Bhutan. On release he wrote a long personal
letter to the King explaining the circumstances under which he was
victimised and thrown into jail and how he was tortured and humiliated
under a sham trial. In a moving appeal he said that "he would be
most happy to trade off (his) freedom and life in securing a fair and
just solution that would allow (his) people to live in peace and perfect
social harmony." He reiterated his loyalty to the King and his
commitment to move forward with "malice" towards none.
Since 2001, he has been hoping against hope that the King would grant
him an audience that would give him an opportunity to at least explain
his position and his continued loyalty. To his dismay he found that the
King continued bear ill will towards him. No hotel keeper in Phuntsoling
was willing to keep him out of fear and he has been left penniless after
his property and his residence were appropriated by Bhutan government
and handed over to a senior member of Drukpa community. At the time of
release he was given a royal sum of Rupees hundred and twenty as bus
fare to Nepal and he was not supposed to eat en route either!
There has been no response from the King to his letter and there
would be none either. Though Rijal has not given up his hope of
reconciliation, he is now trying to consider the appeal of the refugees
to take over the leadership to find a just solution for their return to
their homes in Bhutan. A reluctant Rijal, it is heard, is taking over
the leadership of the poor and hapless refugees. Rijal has been a
"prisoner of conscience" of Amnesty international and he has
the ability to rally the frustrated refugees to find a solution through
non violent methods.
With Rijal’s involvement, the movement is likely to get
internationalised as no one has suffered more than Rijal himself on the
ethnic cleansing that has taken place in Bhutan. It is time that the
issue is taken up with the International court of justice too. There
will always be many well meaning NGOs who can take up their cause. They
should in the first instance meet many of the victims who have undergone
torture and deprivation at the hands of Bhutanese officials and a case
could be made for bringing some of those who carried out ethnic
cleansing with official backing before the court..
The UNHCR, having failed to expedite a solution that the
international community may not support the refugee camps as their
priorities shift to other crises in the world. In an interview to a
newspaper, a visiting senior UNHCR official said on the joint
verification of the refugees of the Kudenabari camp that "Over the
last year and a half we had been very hopeful, . but now we are very
concerned that the harmonisation of position between Nepal and Bhutan
has still not taken place even so long after the verification of the
refugees in one of the camps." He indicated that they are in touch
with both Nepal and Bhutan as well as other countries including India to
find a just and durable solution. There was an indirect warning that if
the there is no solution in the near future the UNHCR may withdraw
support. For twelve long years the refugees have waited for a just
solution and their patience is running out.
First draft Constitution presented to the King. In a carefully
orchestrated move, media reports give the impression that the King has
decided to go for a constitutional monarchy and that the draft will be
discussed at all levels before it is finalised. In an address to the
nation on the national day he said that the draft will be distributed to
the 20 dzongkhags and that he would visit all the dzonkhags along with
the members of the drafting committee that would "bring forth a
constitution that will fulfill the aspirations of the Bhutanese people,
promote national interest, safe guard Bhutan’s security and
sovereignly.
Notwithstanding the hype from the media, it is our view that it is
too early to make any comment on the Constitution until the details are
known. If past record is any indication, we have reasons to doubt, as
the present King completely reversed the modernisation steps taken by
his late father whose rule was known more as an era "political
reforms and modernisation."
The case of Shabdrung: Some refugees are under the mistaken
impression that the present incarnation of Shabdrung who is generally
resident in Himachal Pradesh could take up their cause and help them
return to Bhutan. Shabdrung is seen to be very active and has been
visiting various monasteries. He appears to be amply supplied with
funds. This is not the place to discuss the history of the Shabdrungs
and their relationship with the current rulers. Suffice it to say that
the refugees should continue to fight their battle themselves and not
get involved in the politics of the rulers.
