NEPALIS LAUNCH PRIVATE EFFORT TO SOLVE BHUTANESE

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000090

SIPDIS

STATE FOR SA/INS
LONDON FOR POL/REIDEL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PGOV NP IN
SUBJECT: NEPALIS LAUNCH PRIVATE EFFORT TO SOLVE BHUTANESE
REFUGEE CRISIS


1. Summary: A team of distinguished Nepali former diplomats
and former officials met with Ambassador Malinowski on
January 17 to encourage US support for efforts to repatriate
Bhutanese refugees residing in seven camps in Eastern Nepal.
The delegation recently returned from a trip to New Delhi,
where they held similar meetings with the Ambassadors of
Bhutan's donor countries, hoping to encourage international
involvement. Concerned that a failure to resolve the crisis
could result in radicalization of the refugee population and
aggravated regional instability, the group called for
increased pressure on the governments of Nepal and Bhutan,
and requested US assistance in convincing India to take a
more active role in the process of resolution. End summary.


2. In a January 17 meeting with Ambassador, representatives
of the Bhutanese Refugee Repatriation Support Group, Nepal
(BRRSG) encouraged US support for increasing pressure on
Bhutan to resolve the protracted refugee crisis that has
confined 100,000 Bhutanese to UNHCR-administered camps in
Nepal for thirteen years. Citing a lack of employment
opportunities and a lack of facilities for higher education
as the causes, the five-member delegation reported increasing
frustration and anger among the youth of the refugee
community--some of whom have lived their entire lives in the
camps. The group warned that the lack of progress toward a
solution "may cause problems" not just for Nepal and Bhutan,
but for India and other neighboring countries, and called on
the USG to help convince the Indian government to take a more
active role in settling the issue.


3. Boasting an impressive membership of distinguished Nepali,
including former Foreign Minister Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya,
former Foreign Secretary and former Ambassador to the
European Union Kedra Bhakta Shrestha, former Foreign
Secretary and former Secretary General of SAARC Yadav Kant

SIPDIS
Silwal, and former Ambassador to the United Nations Dr. Jay
Raj Acharya, the BRRSG's stated goal is "to repatriate all
Bhutanese refugees to Bhutan with full dignity, safety and
honor." The group intends to "mobilize national and
international public opinion to solve the Bhutanese refugee
problem as soon as possible."


4. Toward that end, a delegation from the BRRSG recently
returned from a trip to New Delhi, where they met with the
diplomatic missions of Canada, Austria, Switzerland and the
Netherlands, seeking to enlist the assistance of those
countries in finding a swift and equitable solution to the
refugee crisis. They characterized their reception as very
positive, and were encouraged by what they saw as the
willingness of the international community to take a hand in
resolving the situation. In Kathmandu, in addition to their
meeting with Ambassador Malinowski and an earlier meeting
with the British Ambassador, the group plans to meet with the
Danish, Norwegian and German Embassies, and the resident EU
representative. According to press reports, the team is
urging governments with foreign assistance programs in Bhutan
to withhold their aid if the Bhutanese government continues
to delay a solution to the problem.


5. Comment: Efforts to find a resolution to the Bhutanese
refugee crisis are welcome, especially when they are made by
as distinguished and reasonable a group as the members of the
BRRSG. From a humanitarian standpoint, the continued impasse
on this issue is lamentable. More pragmatically, increasing
impatience with the repatriation process, together with a
lack of opportunities for employment and education, have
created an environment in the camps conducive to homegrown
radicalism, and ripe for recruitment by the Maoists.
Bilateral efforts to resolve the problem have remained
stalled for too long. This private initiative by the BRRSG,
in which well-respected Nepalis are seeking to
internationalize the issue and to engage the efforts of
countries with foreign aid programs or other influence in
Bhutan, is a positive new approach.
MALINOWSKI