Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07KATHMANDU402
2007-02-21 09:05:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

CANADIAN AMBASSADOR PLEASED BY PROGRESS ON

Tags:  PREF PGOV PTER BT IN CA NP 
pdf how-to read a cable
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FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5031
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 5402
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO PRIORITY 5704
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 0896
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 3713
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 5031
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 1031
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 0193
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA PRIORITY 3165
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 2431
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000402 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/21/2017
TAGS: PREF PGOV PTER BT IN CA NP
SUBJECT: CANADIAN AMBASSADOR PLEASED BY PROGRESS ON
BHUTANESE REFUGEES

REF: KATHMANDU 317

KATHMANDU 00000402 001.2 OF 003


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

Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000402

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/21/2017
TAGS: PREF PGOV PTER BT IN CA NP
SUBJECT: CANADIAN AMBASSADOR PLEASED BY PROGRESS ON
BHUTANESE REFUGEES

REF: KATHMANDU 317

KATHMANDU 00000402 001.2 OF 003


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

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


1. (C) Canada's New Delhi-based Ambassador to Nepal David
Malone told the Ambassador recently he was pleased to hear of
Prime Minister Koirala's recent decision to approve
third-country resettlement of Bhutanese refugees. He
indicated that the Government of Canada had not yet decided
how many refugees it might take, but he expected it would be
around 10 percent of the U.S. number. Malone warned,
however, that in order to make it politically possible for
Canada to take any, senior Canadian politicians had to feel
they were consulted on the process. The Canadian Ambassador
expressed appreciation for the Ambassador's comments on
political developments in Nepal and said they tracked with
what he was hearing in New Delhi from Indian officials. He
also promised to speak frankly to Maoist leaders about their
need to end violence and intimidation.

New Canadian Ambassador Makes First Visit to Nepal
-------------- --------------


2. (C) David Malone, a former Canadian Ambassador to the
United Nations, who started his duties as High Commissioner
in New Delhi in August 2006, and is accredited to Nepal and
Bhutan, met with the Ambassador on February 15 during his
first official visit to Kathmandu. He noted that he had been
to Nepal privately 17 years earlier and had begun to take an
interest in the country while in New York. Malone, who was
accompanied by Canadian Counsellor and Consul Ed Doe, implied
he had his hands full running Canada's largest foreign
mission in the world. He remarked that the Government of
Canada had few interests in Nepal, but that he was interested
in the Bhutanese refugees as well as political developments.
The Canadian Ambassador expressed his gratitude to the Nepali
Foreign Ministry for allowing him to hold meetings during his
visit even though he had not yet presented his credentials.
Malone stated that he did not expect new Ambassadors to begin

presenting their credentials in Kathmandu until an interim
government was formed with Maoist participation.

So the Nepalis Have Approved Resettlement, Eh?
-------------- -


3. (C) The Canadian Ambassador informed the Ambassador that
he was hearing two different stories from Nepalis on a
third-country resettlement program for Bhutanese refugees.
Acting Foreign Secretary Basnet had told him that the Foreign
Minister would need to make one more trip to Thimpu in an
attempt to resolve the impasse with Bhutan over the refugees'
future. That trip was on hold until the interim government
was formed because the current Foreign Minister, KP Oli, had
no guarantee he would keep his seat. On the other hand,
Prime Minister Koirala's Foreign Policy Advisor, Dr. Suresh
Chalise, had indicated that the Prime Minister had given
resettlement a green light at a February 7 meeting with the
Ambassador (reftel). To add to his confusion, Malone claimed
that UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Country
Representative Abraham Abraham did not seem to be in the loop
-- although the Canadian Ambassador conceded he had not asked
Abraham a point-blank question.

Resettlement Approved; U.S. Plans Detailed
--------------


4. (C) The Ambassador assured his Canadian counterpart that
PM Koirala had indeed approved third-country resettlement of
Bhutanese refugees. On that basis, the United States was
moving ahead with planning for a resettlement program. The
U.S. intention, the Ambassador said, was to issue a request
for proposals to set up an overseas processing entity in
Kathmandu to handle the program (Note: PRM posted this on
February 13.). Our goal was for the first refugees to be

KATHMANDU 00000402 002.2 OF 003


processed by September 1. The Ambassador voiced his concern
the Maoists might attempt to delay resettlement. Their goal
was to keep the refugees in camps so they could be used to
export the "revolution" to Bhutan. The Ambassador stated
that he had shared the news of the PM's agreement and U.S.
plans with the Core Group on February 9 and that he hoped to
meet individually the week of February 19 with the Home and
Foreign Ministers respectively to discuss the PM's decision
and next steps. He added that he supported the idea of the
Core Group then having a meeting as a group with the same
ministers to discuss the modalities of a resettlement program.

Canada's Plans Not Yet Clear
--------------


5. (C) Ambassador Malone indicated he was pleased to hear the
news of the PM's decision. He said that, based on his
discussions with the former King of Bhutan, the Royal
Government of Bhutan had no intention to take any refugees
back. On resettlement, he remarked that senior Canadian
officials had not focused on the issue yet. The lower levels
of the bureaucracy were still haggling over the issue, but he
thought that the Government of Canada would ultimately agree
to a resettlement program. He could not give any exact
numbers, but expected that it would be in the range of 10
percent of the U.S. figure (which corresponded to Canada's
overall population relative to the U.S.). Malone, warned,
however, that it was crucial that Canadian politicians be
consulted before the U.S. announced a resettlement program.
Politically, they needed to be able to say they were part of
the decision making process to sell the program to the
Canadian public. Otherwise, they might not be able to accept
any. He suggested a demarche in capitals or in Washington at
a senior level. He also advised the U.S. to work closely
with the UNHCR in developing the resettlement program. The
Ambassador assured his Canadian counterpart that the U.S. had
every intention of working closely with UNHCR and with our
Core Group partners, including Canada.

In Rough Agreement on Nepali Politics
--------------


6. (C) At Ambassador Malone's request the Ambassador
summarized the current political situation, including the
role of the Maoists, the UN arms management process, the
recent Madhesi unrest in the Terai, and the planned election.
Malone indicated that the Ambassador's views generally
tracked with what he was hearing from his Indian
interlocutors in New Delhi. Malone agreed that it was almost
impossible to imagine the Maoists going back to the jungle.
Certainly, their friends among the Indian Communists would,
he said, be extremely disappointed if the Maoists went back
to fighting. The Canadian envoy noted that the Ministry of
External Affairs held India's Ambassador to Nepal Shiv
Shankar Mukherjee in high regard. The Ambassador pointed
that he worked very closely with his Indian counterpart. In
closing, Ambassador Malone volunteered that he planned to
raise the issue of continuing Maoist extortion and
intimidation with senior Maoist leaders when he met them
later in his visit to Nepal. He was well aware of a recent
notorious case in Kathmandu where Maoists threatened to kill
a Canadian computer company entrepreneur if he failed to
provide funds to support their planned political rally.

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


7. (C) The Prime Minister's February 7 decision to permit us
-- and by extension other countries -- to begin a refugee
resettlement program for Bhutanese refugees has caught
several of our Core Group partners flat-footed. They appear
to have assumed the long-standing stalemate would continue.
As Human Rights Watch recently noted in Congressional
testimony, we need to move quickly while we have the
opportunity to get a resettlement program set up. At the
same time, we strongly support the request by Canada, and we
suspect, by other partners as well, to ensure as much

KATHMANDU 00000402 003.2 OF 003


consultation as possible. A demarche request to Core Group
capitals (and New Delhi) at a senior level would reinforce
the work already being done in Geneva and here in Kathmandu
to create a united front and collect additional promises of
refugee resettlement numbers.
MORIARTY