FOREIGN MINISTER ON REFUGEES

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 000912 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/INS, PRM E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/07/2016 TAGS: PREF PREL NP SUBJECT: FOREIGN MINISTER ON REFUGEES Classified By: Classified by James F. Moriarty; Reasons 1.4 (b/d). Keep Process Relating to Tibetan Refugees Quiet -------------- -- ¶1. (C) In an April 5 meeting, Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey urged the Ambassador to keep any process relating to Tibetan refugees as quiet as possible. He also asked the Ambassador not to put anything in writing as that increased the possibility of leaks to the Chinese, who continued to put pressure on His Majesty's Government of Nepal (HMGN). He added that "the Chinese are coming in (on the Tibetan issue) in a very big way." The Ambassador explained that the USG was moving forward on establishing on a process to resettle the Tibetans, but would do it as quietly as possible. Thinking About Internationalizing Bhutanese Refugee Issue -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) FM Pandey acknowledged that his two-month deadline to the Bhutanese was up. He said that Bhutanese FM Wangchuk had not given a satisfactory response, but rather had only proposed sending a Bhutanese team to the camps to provoke the refugees, as had happened in 2003, which would then allow the Bhutanese to claim there was insufficient security to proceed. FM Pandey explained he planned to travel to Abu Dhabi and Qatar April 7-13 and would think about internationalization during his travels. He promised to come back with "clear ideas about how to proceed." He noted that he wanted to have some sort of engagement with India about this issue. The Ambassador again pushed FM Pandey to allow UNHCR's re-registration to start, pointing out that verification of Bhutanese refugee status would be part of any resettlement process. Comment -------------- ¶3. (C) FM Pandey continues to worry about Chinese pressure and how to balance that with the U.S. push on Nepal to issue exit permits to Tibetan refugees and allow resettlement. MORIARTY