NEPAL: SMALL CLASH BETWEEN BHUTANESE REFUGEES AND

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 001551

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PGOV PREL NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: SMALL CLASH BETWEEN BHUTANESE REFUGEES AND
LOCALS RAISES CONCERNS


1. (SBU) According to press reports, UNHCR staff and
refugees, a fight between two Bhutanese refugees and three
locals has led to the reimplementation of camp procedures
requiring all refugees to request passes before leaving the
refugee camps. On 29 July, two Bhutanese refugees from the
Beldangi II camp, who were cutting firewood without
permission near the camp, were approached by the Chairman and
two staff of the local community forest users group (CFUG).
The CFUG members were wearing khukuri knives while patrolling
the forest; the refugees, allegedly afraid of being harmed by
the CFUG members, attacked the CFUG members, and beat up the
Chairman.


2. (SBU) As a result, on 31 July the Chief District
Officer/Director of the GON Refugee Coordination Unit, CFUG
members, refugees, Camp Supervisors, UNHCR and other
interested parties met to resolve the conflict. The
participants decided to strictly implement the "out pass"
system at the camp. (NOTE: Many refugees, particularly at
the Beldangi camps, leave the camps each day to work locally.
Until now, they had not requested or needed passes for this
purpose, even though the policy had been on the books. END
NOTE.)


3. (SBU) COMMENT: Stricter implementation of the camp rules
appears necessary, if only to minimize tensions with the
locals. However, any restrictions on free movement, even if
only bureaucratic, is likely to be felt as a "considerable
hardship," as one refugee commented. Whether a hardship in
reality or not, such perceptions increase refugee frustration
with their uncertain circumstances. Rumors of fencing off
the camps, though apparently baseless, also have raised
refugee anxiety levels. END COMMENT.
MORIARTY