DANISH AND NORWEGIAN AMBASSADORS INTERESTED IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 000836 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/INS, PRM E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/29/2016 TAGS: PREF PTER IN NP SUBJECT: DANISH AND NORWEGIAN AMBASSADORS INTERESTED IN BHUTANESE REFUGEES Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty, Reasons, 1.4 (b/d). Scandinavians Want to Push FM Pandey ... -------------- ¶1. (C) Danish Ambassador Finn Thilsted and Norwegian Ambassador Tore Toreng separately met with the Ambassador to discuss a joint approach to Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey on internationalizing the Bhutanese refugee issue. They suggested that the three of them together go in to discuss Bhutanese refugee issues to determine what Nepal meant by internationalizing the issue. The group could also push Nepal to allow the resettlement of vulnerable refugee cases and UNHCR's registration to begin. They agreed with the Ambassador's suggestion that they invite the Australian and Japanese Ambassadors to also participate. ... But Still Checking With Thimpu -------------- ¶2. (C) Thilsted noted that the Danish Minister for Development Cooperation had met with Bhutanese Foreign Minister Wangchuk in Thimpu on March 25. The Danish Minister had planned to raise the necessity of addressing the Bhutanese refugee matter and to let the Bhutanese know that Denmark was prepared to help, but Thilsted had not yet received a read-out. Toreng said that the Norwegian Ambassador in New Delhi also planned to go to Thimpu, where he would raise the issue with FM Wangchuk and offer Norwegian assistance with the transportation of the refugees back to Bhutan. The Ambassador cautioned that Bhutan could use the Norwegian offer to further delay the process. Toreng explained that Norway wanted to confirm that Bhutan did not want to cooperate, but Norway did not want prolong the issue. Need To Involve India -------------- ¶3. (C) Ambassador Thilsted suggested that it was important to consult with the government of India on our plans. He explained that internationalizing the process would result in revisiting the 1990-1991 expulsion of the refugees from Bhutan, which could not have happened without the consent (and assistance) of India. Thilsted and the Ambassador agreed that the GOI also had a role to play in guaranteeing that the Bhutanese did not expel the remaining 125,000-plus ethnic Nepalese living in Bhutan. Comment -------------- ¶4. (C) Although there seems to be growing agreement about the need to internationalize the Bhutanese refugee issue to come up with a durable solution, other governments - including Nepal, Denmark, and Norway - are hesitant to move before making absolutely certain that the bilateral process is dead and that Bhutan does not intend to cooperate or take any refugees back. MORIARTY