NEPAL: BHUTANESE REFUGEE LEADER DEPLORES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 002386

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SA/INS, PRM/ANE; LONDON FOR POL/GURNEY; NSC FOR
MILLARD; GENEVA FOR PLYNCH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/06/2013
TAGS: PREF PREL PHUM BH NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: BHUTANESE REFUGEE LEADER DEPLORES
CONDITIONS INSIDE BHUTAN

Classified By: DCM Robert K. Boggs for reasons 1.5 (b,d).

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) On December 3, DCM and PolOff met with Bhutanese human
rights activist Tek Nath Rizal to discuss conditions inside
Bhutan and the repatriation of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal.
Rizal contends that the Royal Government of Bhutan's system
of discrimination continues to oppress the ethnic Nepali
community inside Bhutan. Consequently, the refugees of
Khudunabari Camp are extremely anxious about repatriation and
particularly worried about personal security and safety in
Bhutan. Third-party monitoring is essential to ensure the
refugees' safety, he emphasized. Despite his concerns, Rizal
is encouraging all eligible Khudunabari Camp refugees to
return to Bhutan. Rizal believes that a meeting between the
refugees and the Bhutanese King would go far to alleviate
their concerns and to build mutual trust. End Summary.

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CONDITIONS INSIDE BHUTAN
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2. (SBU) On December 3, DCM and PolOff met with Tek Nath
Rizal, a long-time human rights activist and former prisoner
of conscience in Bhutan, to share views about possible
repatriation of the Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. Rizal was
accompanied by fellow refugee community leader Ratan Gazmere.
Rizal is currently chairman of the Human Rights Council of
Bhutan, which acts as the umbrella organization for all of
the refugee-based advocacy groups.


3. (C) Rizal expressed appreciation for the USG's
interventions on his behalf while he was a prisoner in
Bhutan. Despite his activism promoting human rights for 17
years as an elected member of the Druk National Assembly,
Rizal said, he had achieved little success. Although he has
not been inside Bhutan since his release from prison, Rizal
believes that life for ethnic minorities in Bhutan continues
to be very difficult. "They are in misery," he said.


4. (C) Rizal alleged that ethnic Nepalis in Bhutan are
discriminated against on many levels -- everything from
purchasing bus tickets to qualifying for a bed in a hospital.
Rizal also claims that the Northern and Eastern Bhutanese
resettled by the RGOB in southern Bhutan force the ethnic
Nepalis to work in fields, in some cases the same fields the
Nepalis had formerly owned. He explained that there is a
system in Bhutan whereby all residents are required to
provide free labor to the government, but in practice only
the ethnic minorities are expected to fulfill this
requirement. As a result, Rizal said, even U.N. development
programs have used this so-called free labor to dig
irrigation ditches and break rocks for construction of
hospitals and schools. He worried that this type of
discrimination would continue to plague the refugees upon
their return to Bhutan.

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REFUGEES WORRY ABOUT PERSONAL SECURITY
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5. (C) As a result, the refugees in the camps inside Nepal
are extremely anxious about what type of treatment they will
receive in Bhutan. Gazmere asserted that the refugees are
most concerned about personal security after returning to
Bhutan, fearful that they would be subject to the same sort
of violence and intimidation that drove them out of Bhutan
thirteen years ago. The refugees fear harassment by
government authorities and security forces as well as
victimization by the Indian militants now based in southern
Bhutan. Rizal noted that what used to be known as "No
Objection Certificates" are now called "Security Clearance
Certificates," adding that without these documents, ethnic
Nepalis inside Bhutan are denied access to social services as
well as citizenship status. The Royal Government of Bhutan
(RGOB) has not made it clear whether returning refugees would
receive these certificates, he said. Despite these concerns,
however, Rizal had decided to encourage all Khudunabari Camp
residents who are eligible for repatriation to return to
Bhutan in February 2004.

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THIRD-PARTY MONITORING ESSENTIAL
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6. (C) Without third-party monitoring in southern Bhutan,
Rizal argued, the RGOB would feel even freer to continue
systematic ethnic discrimination. Because of the alleged
complicity or at least lack of interest of the UNDP and other
UN agencies in this discrimination, Rizal and other refugees
are opposed to those bodies providing oversight for the
repatriation. (FYI: These sentiments are supported by the
UNICEF representative from Thimpu, who told UNHCR regional
director Fakhouri that the RGOB had approached UNICEF to
request its assistance in moving ethnic Nepalis from southern
Bhutan into interim camps in other parts of the country.
And, to UNHCR's chagrin, the UNICEF official at the time has
seen nothing inappropriate about this proposal. End FYI.)


7. (C) The two Bhutanese interlocutors indicated that they
had met with foreign diplomatic missions in New Delhi
recently where they heard that the RGOB might consider
allowing other agencies, such as ICRC, to provide third-party
oversight. Rizal holds ICRC in high regard and appreciates
the effort it has made to protect ethnic Nepali prisoners
inside Bhutan, but noted that protection of refugees is well
beyond ICRC's mandate or abilities. He also noted that the
ICRC's charter includes a confidentiality clause that might
prohibit it from divulging sensitive information. Rizal said
the refugees continue to hope that UNHCR will be able to
provide third-party oversight for their repatriation. He did
not understand how Bhutan, as a U.N. member state, "was able
to get away with" preventing UNHCR from fulfilling its lawful
mandate for refugee protection. If the UNHCR continues to be
unacceptable to the RGOB, he said, the refugees would be
willing to accept certain international NGOs, such as
Lutheran World Federation, Oxfam and Caritas, who they regard
as more sincere and dedicated to the refugees' cause.

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MEETING WITH KING WOULD GO FAR TO ALLEVIATE REFUGEE CONCERNS
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8. (C) Rizal was disappointed that the Bhutanese King had
thus far declined to talk with the refugee leaders. He
believes that the two sides could reach an amicable
understanding and build mutual trust through such a meeting.
In concluding the visit, Rizal made a plea for financial
assistance to enable the refugee group to continue -- and
intensify -- its lobbying activities in Nepal and abroad.

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COMMENT
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9. (C) Rizal's willingness to encourage Khudunabari Camp
refugees to return to Bhutan despite his fears and
uncertainties about conditions may, at first glance, seem
contradictory. However, he might have calculated that the
refugees will have more strength in numbers and determined
that the first group from Khudunabari Camp will provide the
litmus test for future repatriation. Rizal's accounts of
conditions inside Bhutan are certainly worrisome and
underlines further the need for third-party monitoring,
particularly by the UNHCR. End Comment.


MALINOWSKI