Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07KATHMANDU316
2007-02-07 12:07:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

COMMUNIST PARTY OF BHUTAN INTENSIFIES ACTIVITIES

Tags:  PREF PREL PGOV PTER BT IN NP 
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FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
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RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 0823
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO PRIORITY 5633
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RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA PRIORITY 3099
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RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 1491
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 2396
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000316 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
NOFORN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/07/2017
TAGS: PREF PREL PGOV PTER BT IN NP
SUBJECT: COMMUNIST PARTY OF BHUTAN INTENSIFIES ACTIVITIES
IN BHUTANESE REFUGEE CAMPS

Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty for reasons 1.4(b/d).

Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000316

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
NOFORN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/07/2017
TAGS: PREF PREL PGOV PTER BT IN NP
SUBJECT: COMMUNIST PARTY OF BHUTAN INTENSIFIES ACTIVITIES
IN BHUTANESE REFUGEE CAMPS

Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty for reasons 1.4(b/d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C/NF) According to several recent reports in the Royal
Government of Bhutan's (RGOB) news service and the Indian
press, the Communist Party of Bhutan - Marxist Leninist
Maoist (CPB) has intensified its activities in the Bhutanese
refugee camps in eastern Nepal. A close Embassy contact and
refugee from Khudunabari Camp, Narayan Subedi (please
protect),confirmed these reports, suggesting that between
1,000 and 3,000 refugee youth had been indoctrinated into the
CPB movement. Subedi also indicated that the CPB was
actively seeking "donations" in the camps and provided
RefCoord a scanned copy of a CPB donation card.

Press Reports Indicate Increased CPB Activity
--------------


2. (C/NF) A 24 January news report from Kuensel on-line, the
Royal Government of Bhutan's (RGOB) news service, claimed
that a Bhutanese refugee from Beldangi 2 camp had been
arrested in Bhutan for planning terrorist activities.
According to the article, the arrested refugee admitted that
he, along with a small group of other CPB members, had
received training from Nepali Maoists in January 2006 and
another small group had recently gone to Bhutan to provide
surveillance on a public works project. A close Embassy
contact and Bhutanese refugee from Khudunabari Camp, Narayan
Subedi, separately confirmed February 6 to RefCoord that CPB
President Chabilal Kharel and General Secretary Vikalpa
Chetri were refugees in their mid-20s from Khudunabari and
Beldangi 2 camps, respectively. A separate article appearing
in the Indian press around the same time reported that the
RGOB's seeming apathy toward the Bhutanese refugees had
injected fervor into the CPB movement. The Indian journalist
appears to have spoken with a CPB leader, who allegedly
claimed that a "revolution" would be launched to "overthrow
the monarchy" in Bhutan.


CPB Recruitment in the Refugee Camps
--------------


3. (C/NF) On February 6, Subedi detailed his conversation
with a former classmate from Khudunabari Camp who had
recently traveled to the Bhutan-Indian border to participate
in a CPB committee meeting. According to the classmate, the
CPB plans to establish camps in eastern Bhutan soon and that
"by July our first target will be fulfilled." He refused to
elaborate on the nature of their target. The classmate
indicated that CPB members were working in small groups
inside Bhutan, particularly in Samchi and Sarbhang along the
mid-western section of the India-Bhutan border. Subedi
believed anywhere between 1,000 - 3,000 refugee youth between
ages 21 - 29 had received some kind of indoctrination into
the CPB outside the camps. Many of these youth are now
absent from the camps, he added.

CPB Actively Seeks Donations From Refugees
--------------


4. (C/NF) Subedi reported to RefCoord that the CPB had
actively begun collecting "donations" from refugees in the
camps. Donations ranged from NRs 10 to 10,000 (USD .15 to
150),he said. Subedi sent RefCoord a scanned copy of the
CPB "Levy Card." The flag symbol and style on the card is
the same as Nepal's Maoists, including the slogans "Workers
of the world unite, Let's unite for people's democracy, and
Let's smash down the absolute monarchy." The sector,
subsector and hut number of the family who provided the
donation are detailed on the card. The back of the card in
English says the following:

Begin Text.

KATHMANDU 00000316 002 OF 002



-- CPB (MLM) is only the party of exploited Bhutanese

-- CPB (MLM) fights for the new democracy in Bhutan

-- CPB (MLM) believes only in the peoples' war

-- CPB (MLM) can't exist without the support of the Bhutanese

-- CPB (MLM) considers everyone as the agent who opposes the
just revolution

-- CPB (MLM) appeals every patriotic Bhutanese to sacrifice
everything, even their life, for the future generation's
democracy and the country as a whole.

End Text.

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


5. (C/NF) RefCoord's recent visit to the Bhutanese refugee
camps revealed a growing awareness among refugees that
third-country resettlement, not repatriation to Bhutan, would
be the most likely solution to their plight. As this
awareness grows, some political leaders in the refugee
community have become increasingly radical in their demands
for repatriation. These leaders, such as Tek Nath Rizal,
have undoubtedly secured moral and technical, if not
financial, support from Nepal's Maoists. Other refugee
community leaders speak publicly about the benefits of
third-country resettlement, but live in fear of retaliation
from either the CPB or the Maoists. Without concrete action
on resettlement soon, Post fears that the growing
polarization between those with a political agenda in Bhutan
and those who support resettlement could result in violence.
That said, the Prime Minister's February 7 agreement to a
resettlement program (septel),if implemented, would go far
to undermine radicalization in the camps.

MORIARTY