UPDATE ON BHUTANESE REFUGEES; MEETING WITH EU

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000620

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PREL PGOV BT EU SAARC NP
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON BHUTANESE REFUGEES; MEETING WITH EU
DELEGATION

Summary
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1. (SBU) At the Kathmandu-based Core Group meeting March 22,
the Ambassador detailed his earlier discussions with Prime
Minister Koirala, Home Minister Sitaula and Foreign Minister
Oli on resettlement of Bhutanese refugees. UNHCR Resident
Representative Abraham expressed concern about the activities
of militant groups in the refugee camps. He indicated that
UNHCR would finish the census in mid- to late-April and hoped
to begin distribution of refugee ID cards shortly thereafter.
UN High Commissioner Guterres may visit Nepal May 22-23.
WFP Country Director Ragan reported that Swiss and Dutch
contributions had secured the food supply to the refugees
through June. Abraham later reported to RefCoord that
Foreign Minister Oli had told him March 22 that the meeting
with the Bhutanese at the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit would resolve this issue
"once and for all." According to an EU Parliamentary
delegation, Bhutan's Prime Minister had welcomed the U.S.
resettlement offer. Bhutanese officials also had indicated
that Bhutan did not intend to repatriate any refugees from
Nepal.

Update on Progress With Nepal and Bhutan
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2. (SBU) At a meeting March 22 of the Kathmandu-based Core
Group, Australian Ambassador Graeme Lade asked the Ambassador
to provide an update on U.S. progress toward developing a
resettlement program. The Ambassador detailed his meetings
with the Prime Minister March 10 and with Home Minister
Sitaula and Foreign Minister Oli on February 26, including
Prime Minister Koirala's renewal of his decision to allow
third-country resettlement. Oli, he noted, wanted to hold
one more meeting with his Bhutanese counterpart, likely on
the margins of the SAARC Summit April 3-4, before proceeding
with resettlement. Lade, who had spoken that morning with
the Danish Deputy Chief of Mission in Kathmandu, reported
that the Danish mission in Thimpu intended to deliver the
joint Core Group demarche to the Royal Government of Bhutan
(RGOB) on March 26. The Ambassador agreed to help arrange a
joint Core Group meeting in mid-April with the Home and
Foreign Ministers to discuss resettlement procedures. Lade
planned to invite Core Group members not present in Kathmandu
(the Dutch, Canadian and New Zealand Embassies) during his
visit to New Delhi March 26-29.

UNHCR Concerned About Camp Security
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3. (SBU) UNHCR Resident Representative Abraham Abraham said
he planned to meet with Foreign Minister Oli that afternoon
to urge the Government of Nepal (GON) to provide adequate
security in the refugee camps. Abraham expressed concern
that radical groups, such as the Communist Party of Bhutan
(CPB),were becoming increasingly violent toward refugees
supporting resettlement. He said that CPB members attacked
five refugees in Beldangi II camp March 21. UNHCR had
identified some 10 refugee youth who may have connections
with the CPB. He planned to meet with the youth at the UNHCR
sub-office in Jhapa District to discourage further violence.

Census Update, UNHCR Guterres To Visit
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4. (SBU) Abraham reported that UNHCR and the GON had begun
the census in Timai camp and after finishing there would move
directly to the final camp, Khudunabari. He expected to
finish the census in mid- to late-April and would share the
final results with donors by mid-May. Abraham was interested
in initiating distribution of refugee ID cards immediately
following the census. He could not provide a time estimate

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for completion because the GON had not agreed upon a format
for the ID card. High Commissioner Antonio Guterres planned
to visit Nepal, including the refugee camps, on May 22-23,
Abraham said, adding that Guterres would also visit Bhutan
during his trip.

Protection Update
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5. (U) Abraham stated that the situation in Sanischare camp,
following the clash February 22 between local villagers and
refugees, had improved since the Jhapa Chief District Officer
(CDO) had established a committee to investigate the
incident. The Deputy CDO, Deputy Superintendent of Police,
UNHCR Sub-Office Director, Sanischare Camp Secretary, the
local forest user group committee chairperson, and an
attorney sat on the committee. Abraham confirmed that the
local Nepalese community was allowing refugee students to
attend school outside the camp, but otherwise movement in and
out of the camp remained restricted. The local community
continued to demand that Sanischare camp be moved to another
location. Abraham suggested that, as a result, perhaps
Sanischare camp should be the first camp to participate in
the resettlement program.

World Food Program Update
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6. (U) World Food Program (WFP) Country Director Richard
Ragan reported that WFP had reduced lentil distribution to
the Bhutanese refugees by 1/3 (from 60 grams to 40 grams per
person per day) due to supply problems. He anticipated the
reduction would last roughly 4-6 weeks until the next
shipment was received. Ragan indicated that Switzerland (USD
410,000) and the Netherlands (USD 617,000) had earmarked
contributions to WFP that secured the food supply to the
refugees through June. Norwegian Ambassador Tore Toreng
suggested that Norway might have funds for the food program
available in October or November. Abraham expressed concern
that the European Union, a large contributor to the food
program in the past, had decided to reduce its contributions
by 25 percent this year.

UNHCR Abraham's Meeting with Foreign Minister
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7. (SBU) Abraham told RefCoord March 23 that, in his meeting
March 22, Foreign Minister Oli had confirmed the GON intended
to discuss the refugees with the RGOB on the margins of the
SAARC Summit in New Delhi April 3-4. Oli had hoped this
would resolve the issue "once and for all." According to
Abraham, Oli said that Nepal would only agree to a sixteenth
round of negotiations if Bhutan agreed to immediately start
repatriation of eligible refugees. Abraham also requested
the GON approve exit permits for the 36 Bhutanese vulnerable
individuals who had been accepted for third-country
resettlement. (Note: Home Ministry Deputy Coordinator for
Refugee Affairs Shankar Koirala told RefCoord March 22 that
he had forwarded the 36 cases to the sub-office in Jhapa for
processing. He anticipated the sub-office would approve
these cases within two weeks, after which he would send the
cases to the Foreign Ministry for travel documents. End
Note.)

EU Parliament Members Visit Bhutan
--------------


8. (SBU) The Ambassador met separately March 22 with a
five-member delegation from the European Parliament who had
just arrived from Thimpu. The head of delegation, Neena
Gill, reported that Bhutanese Prime Minister Khandu Wangchuk
had claimed that progress on the refugees had stalled because
the GON had kept changing the goalposts. Bhutan was unhappy

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that the GON was defining the issue as one between Bhutan and
the refugees, not involving Nepal. The RGOB, she said, was
not willing to restart bilateral negotiations afresh. The
RGOB had welcomed the U.S. resettlement offer, Gill added.

Bhutan Not Willing to Repatriate Refugees
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9. (SBU) The Ambassador described to the European MPs Prime
Minister Koirala's agreement to proceed with a large-scale
resettlement program and the issuance February 13 of the U.S.
"Request for Proposals." He indicated that the next step was
to formulate resettlement procedures at the working level
with the Home and Foreign Ministries. The Ambassador pointed
out that he had seen no indications that the RGOB intended to
allow any repatriation to occur. Perhaps that was because if
the RGOB were to permit refugees to return to their homes in
Bhutan, that could be seen as an admission of guilt for
having ethnically cleansed nearly one-sixth of Bhutan's
population in the early 1990s. Separately, the EU Parliament
Foreign Policy advisor Xavier Nuttin told RefCoord that the
RGOB had made it clear to the delegation that it did not
intend to repatriate any refugees from Nepal.

Comment
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10. (SBU) From the EU delegates report from Thimpu, it
appears that the RGOB has not changed its position on
repatriation of the refugees. We do not expect any progress
on this issue at the SAARC Summit in New Delhi next month.
If, however, the talks make it possible for the Government of
Nepal, and the Foreign Ministry specifically, to move ahead
with planning for a resettlement program, we will consider
the meeting a success.

MORIARTY