Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04KATHMANDU541
2004-03-23 07:35:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

BHUTANESE REFUGEES: SOME HOPEFUL SIGNS OF PROGRESS

Tags:  PREF PHUM PREL NP BH IN 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000541 

SIPDIS

NOFORN

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2014
TAGS: PREF PHUM PREL NP BH IN
SUBJECT: BHUTANESE REFUGEES: SOME HOPEFUL SIGNS OF PROGRESS

REF: A. NEW DELHI 1642


B. JOYCE-PITOTTI-KAPLAN EMAILS OF 03/18-19 (NOTAL)

C. KATHMANDU 230

D. 03 KATHMANDU 2501

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

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000541

SIPDIS

NOFORN

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2014
TAGS: PREF PHUM PREL NP BH IN
SUBJECT: BHUTANESE REFUGEES: SOME HOPEFUL SIGNS OF PROGRESS

REF: A. NEW DELHI 1642


B. JOYCE-PITOTTI-KAPLAN EMAILS OF 03/18-19 (NOTAL)

C. KATHMANDU 230

D. 03 KATHMANDU 2501

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


1. (C) Summary. The GON has prepared a report on the
December incident in Khudunabari Camp and will provide it to
the RGOB in April. A UNHCR official confided that the
Government of India had requested information from UNHCR on
conditions for return faced by the refugees and how these
conditions would need to change to meet international
standards. The GON has not prohibited UNHCR from conducting
a socio-economic survey, but is reluctant to move forward
with any plans involving local integration of refugees.
UNHCR will initiate the profiling exercise of the refugees as
early as mid-May. Refugee leaders are discussing the
possibility of a visit to Bhutan, but have no plans to march
to Bhutan as mentioned in Ref A. The RGOB's demand for a
full investigation into the December incident seems to be
merely a ploy to delay the repatriation and verification
process. The GON report will likely differ insignificantly
from accounts reported Ref C. Perhaps the Department could
suggest that the RGOB adopt confidence-building measures,
such as permitting a small group of Khudunabari refugees to
conduct a "pre-repatriation" visit to Southern Bhutan. End
Summary.

-------------- --------------
Status of GON Investigation into December Incident
-------------- --------------


2. (C) At the request of the Royal Government of Bhutan
(RGOB),the Government of Nepal (GON) has prepared a report
on the December 22 incident in Khudunabari Camp in a good
faith effort to restart the bilateral process. Foreign
Ministry Joint Secretary M.K. Bhattarai informed Poloff on
March 23 that the report is based on accounts from GON
officials present during the incident. Bhattarai added that
he prepared the report in such a way as to avoid embarrassing
the RGOB and without apportioning blame to any party. The

findings will be forwarded to Foreign Minister B.B. Thapa
upon his return from abroad o/a March 30, he said. Bhattarai
suggested that the GON would convey the report to the RGOB as
soon as the first week of April.

--------------
GOI Requests Information from UNHCR
--------------


3. (C/NF) A UNHCR senior protection officer confided to
Poloff on March 22 that UNHCR/Nepal recently responded to a
request from the Government of India (GOI) for information on
the Bhutanese refugees. Specifically, the GOI asked UNHCR to
detail the conditions for repatriation as outlined by the
RGOB and how these conditions would need to change in order
to meet international standards. The UNHCR official
indicated that the report was given recently to the GOI.
According to the official, the report highlighted the many
uncertainties faced by the refugees. For example, in order
to regain citizenship, the RGOB has indicated that Category
II refugees must not say anything or do anything "against the
King, the Government and the People of Bhutan," but has not
clarified whether past behavior (e.g., from the 1990-1991
demonstrations) or behavior only during the 2-year probation
period will be taken into account. The RGOB has also failed
to address what will happen to Category II returnees who fail
to regain citizenship. The UNHCR official also asserted that
the report emphasized that prior Bhutanese citizenship should
not be the definitive condition on which the RGOB bases the
right to return. According to international standards,
"habitual residence" in the country should be sufficient to
qualify for repatriation, she said.


-------------- --------------
UNHCR: Planning for Socio-Economic Survey Continues
While Profiling Exercise to Begin in May
-------------- --------------


4. (C) According to UNHCR/Nepal, UNHCR has neither formally
requested nor been denied permission by the GON to conduct a
socio-economic survey. The purpose of the socio-economic
survey is to identify differences between the camps and local
Nepali communities regarding access to social services, such
as education and health, with an eye to equalizing quality of
services in anticipation of local integration of the
refugees. Informal conversations between the UNHCR and GON
officials have indicated that the GON is reluctant to conduct
the survey because of its implications for local integration,
which the GON has not agreed formally to address at this
time. UNHCR will continue with planning the survey, however,
and at some point will submit a proposal to the GON. A UNHCR
protection officer opined that the GON likely will not refuse
to cooperate with the survey because of the potential
benefits to local Nepalis.


5. (SBU) UNHCR's profiling exercise is expected to begin
sometime in May (Ref B). According to a UNHCR protection
officer, UNHCR/Nepal has requested a "profiling expert" from
Geneva and anticipates that he/she will arrive in mid-April.
UNHCR has also contracted the International Catholic
Migration Commission (ICMC) to train and supervise a team of
high school-graduate refugees to collect the profiling data.
(Profiling data will include household size, names, ages,
types of Bhutanese documentation, last address in Bhutan,
education levels, work experience, languages, current
earnings (if any),and real estate holding outside Bhutan.)
UNHCR anticipates that the 8-person ICMC team will arrive in
April, train the data collectors and begin work in the camps
in May. Data collection will require 2-3 weeks followed by 2
weeks of data entry. The profiling exercise could be
complete by late June. Using this information, UNHCR will
initiate individual protection interviews to identify
vulnerable groups that might benefit from resettlement abroad.

--------------
No Decision by Refugees to March on Bhutan
--------------


6. (C) Contrary to reports that the refugees are planning to
march into Bhutan in April or May, refugee leader Ratan
Gazmere informed PolOff that no decision has been made. He
added, however, that the refugee leaders have discussed the
possibility of a "pre-repatriation" visit, for which they
would request permission from the RGOB. Gazmere suggested
that one member from each family in Khudunabari Camp of
Categories I and II would travel to Bhutan to visit their
home district to alleviate some of their concerns and to
witness for themselves whether they would be able to return
to their own lands and property. PolOff recommended that
such a large group might intimidate the RGOB and that perhaps
one or two representatives to travel to each of the six
districts would be a more manageable and acceptable size.
Gazmere confirmed that refugee leader Tek Nath Rizal is
preparing to conduct an indefinite hunger strike, but has not
decided on the date. The two of them hope to travel to the
upcoming UNCHR meeting in Geneva to raise awareness of the
refugee issue with attendees and to press for a resolution on
Bhutan, he said. Rizal's hunger strike would occur only
after his return to Nepal.

--------------
Comment
--------------


7. (C) By demanding a full investigation into the December
incident -- which all first-hand observers except, perhaps,
Bhutanese officials concur was a spontaneous reaction on the
part of the refugees to very harsh and provocative statements
by RGOB officials -- the RGOB appears to be trying to delay
repatriation and forestall further verification of the
remaining camps. The GON report, based on government
officials' eyewitness accounts, is unlikely to differ
substantially from information received during meetings with
UNHCR and GON officials in January (Ref C). It is unclear
whether the RGOB will persist in its initial insistence that
the guilty (i.e., refugees, in the Bhutanese view) be
punished as well. A visit by a small group of Khudunabari
Camp refugees to the six home districts in Southern Bhutan,
approved by the RGOB, could go far to alleviate the
uncertainties regarding repatriation faced by the refugees.
Post recommends that the Department encourage the RGOB, as a
sign of goodwill and to build confidence between the two
parties, to allow a group of refugees to visit Bhutan.
Firsthand exposure to conditions for return would help both
to remove refugees' uncertainties regarding repatriation and
to clarify the intentions of the Bhutanese government.
However, such a visit would not necessarily reassure the
refugees or pave the way for a mass repatriation. End
Comment.


MALINOWSKI