SOLIDIFYING NEPAL'S SUPPORT FOR BHUTANESE REFUGEE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000919

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PREL PGOV BT NP
SUBJECT: SOLIDIFYING NEPAL'S SUPPORT FOR BHUTANESE REFUGEE
RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM

REF: KATHMANDU 809

Summary
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1. (SBU) During their visit to Nepal April 23 - 28,
Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) Deputy Director for
Asia and the Near East Larry Bartlett and PRM Deputy Director
for Admissions Jan Belz met with key Government of Nepal
(GON) officials to solidify GON support for the Bhutanese
refugee resettlement program. UNHCR Country Representative
Abraham Abraham agreed to launch an information campaign on
third-country resettlement in the refugee camps and to
provide the U.S. with 5,000 referrals (roughly 750 cases) by
mid-July. Refugee community leaders expressed support for
the U.S. resettlement program while randomly-selected focus
group discussions with refugees in the camps revealed a high
level of interest in the program. Bartlett and Belz briefed
Core Group Ambassadors on U.S. resettlement plans, which they
said might encourage their own capitals to move quickly on
similar resettlement offers. A U.S. fact sheet on
resettlement was released to the media at a press briefing
April 26 and is now posted on the U.S. Embassy website.

Nepal To Pursue Resettlement, Repatriation Simultaneously
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2. (SBU) In a meeting April 23 with Acting Foreign Secretary
Gyan Chandra Acharya, PRM Deputy Director for Asia and the
Near East Larry Bartlett expressed appreciation for the
Government of Nepal's (GON's) agreement to proceed with
third-country resettlement of Bhutanese refugees. The U.S.
would continue to urge the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGOB)
to repatriate eligible refugees, he added. Acharya welcomed
the U.S. resettlement offer, but noted that repatriation
would be necessary since resettlement would not offer a
solution for all refugees. Bartlett assured him that the
U.S. was committed to consider for resettlement all
interested refugees no matter if that number exceeded 60,000.
On April 26, Foreign Ministry Joint Secretary for UN Affairs
Dinesh Bhattarai emphasized GON interest in holding the RGOB
accountable for evicting its citizens and ensuring that at
least a small number could repatriate to Bhutan. Bhattarai
also indicated GON willingness to cooperate fully with U.S.
resettlement plans. Both Acharya and Bhattarai suggested the
GON would seek a bilateral meeting with the RGOB as soon as
possible, perhaps within the next three months.

The U.S. Resettlement Program in a Nutshell
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3. (SBU) On April 26, Bartlett and PRM Deputy Director for
Admissions Jan Belz briefed GON officials from the Foreign
and Home Ministries and the Director General of Immigration
on U.S. resettlement plans. The Bureau for Population,
Refugees and Migration would select an implementing partner
for the Overseas Processing Entity (OPE) in mid-May; the OPE
would open an office in Kathmandu by mid-July, at which time
it would take responsibility for processing the urban refugee
caseload. In early September, the OPE would open a
sub-office near the refugee camps in Jhapa District in
southeastern Nepal to begin pre-screening refugees.
Following pre-screening, U.S. immigration officials would
visit Nepal to interview every family. After approval, every
refugee would undergo medical screening before admittance to
the U.S. Belz anticipated that the first group of refugees
could board a plane for the U.S. in January/February 2008.
In FY2008, the U.S. hoped to receive 7,000 Bhutanese refugees
and as many as 15,000 in subsequent years, she added. The
program could last for six or seven years depending upon the
refugees' level of interest. None of the GON officials
objected to this schedule.

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U.S. Fact Sheet and GON Exit Permit Procedures
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4. (SBU) In both Foreign Ministry meetings, Bartlett
requested that the GON approve public dissemination of the
U.S. resettlement program fact sheet. Acting Foreign
Secretary Acharya noted the political sensitivity of

SIPDIS
discussing local integration of the refugees and asked
Bartlett to delete mention of this option. Acharya also
emphasized the need to affirm that repatriation remained a
desirable solution for the refugees. Bartlett agreed on both
counts. In the later meeting, Joint Secretary Bhattarai
agreed that the fact sheet could be publicly disseminated at
the press briefing that same day. Noting the long delays in
processing vulnerable Bhutanese refugees for exit permits,
RefCoord requested the GON officials to consider exempting
the Bhutanese refugees from the Nepali regulation that
required a travel document before issuance of exit permits.
She noted that the GON had made this exemption for Tibetans
transiting Nepal. The GON attendees agreed that the current
process needed to be streamlined and planned to review their
exit permit procedures in coming weeks.

UNHCR Gears Up For Large-Scale Resettlement
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5. (SBU) Bartlett and Belz met April 23 with UNHCR Country
Representative Abraham Abraham and UNHCR Durable Solutions
Officer Kim Roberson and, April 27, with visiting UNHCR
Deputy Director for International Protection Vincent
Cochetel. Both Abraham and Cochetel agreed that UNHCR would
provide the first tranche of 5,000 referrals (roughly 750
cases) in early July. He suggested that UNHCR might draw the
first batch of referrals from two groups: first, roughly
25,000 refugees were identified during the UNHCR-GON census
with special needs or vulnerabilities, such as torture
victims, single women heads-of-household, or under age 25
heads-of-household; and second, roughly 4,000 refugees had
submitted informal applications for U.S. resettlement.
Cochetel and Roberson were reluctant to use those refugees
who had submitted applications as they disproportionately
represented the well-educated, high-caste segment of the
population.

Refugees Support Third-Country Resettlement
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6. (SBU) On April 24 and 25, Bartlett and Belz met with
several Bhutanese refugee leaders and visited two refugee
camps (Beldangi 2 and Goldhap) in Jhapa District where they
met with the Camp Management Committees and randomly-selected
focus groups representing particular demographics in the
camps, such as young men, young women, and victims of
torture. In all the meetings, refugees asked numerous
questions about U.S. resettlement. The refugee community
leaders, all of whom had expressed reluctance for
resettlement in previous years, welcomed the U.S.
resettlement offer. They emphasized the need for refugees to
make well-informed decisions and requested more information
about the U.S. program. Belz assured them that the U.S.
intended to work closely with UNHCR to ensure refugees were
well-informed.

Core Group Encouraged By U.S. Resettlement Timeline
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7. (SBU) On April 26, Bartlett and Belz briefed Core Group
Ambassadors from Australia, Denmark, and Norway as well as
the local Canadian Cooperation Officer on U.S. resettlement
plans. The group responded positively. Australian
Ambassador, and local Core Group Chairman, Graeme Lade

KATHMANDU 00000919 003 OF 003


indicated that Canberra would decide on its 2007 refugee
quota in May and could begin its process as early as July.
The Canadian representative Ed Doe was not certain when
Ottawa would be ready to announce resettlement numbers and
agreed to revert to his capital on this issue. Norwegian
Ambassador Tore Toreng noted that his government had extended
the deadline for processing a number of vulnerable Bhutanese
refugees that were waiting for GON exit permission.

Extensive Media Coverage on U.S. Resettlement Program
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8. (SBU) Bartlett and Belz held a press conference April 26
with print and broadcast journalists representing both
English and vernacular media. The PRM team distributed the
U.S. fact sheet on resettlement at the briefing. Newspaper
articles published the following day highlighted the U.S.
commitment to allow all interested refugees to apply for U.S.
resettlement, no matter whether that number exceeded 60,000.
The media coverage was positive and demonstrated the popular
appeal of U.S. resettlement.

Comment: Next Steps
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9. (SBU) PRM's visit to Nepal went far to solidify GON and
refugee support for third-country resettlement. The positive
response to U.S. resettlement was overwhelming and nearly
universal. However, some challenges remain. An effective
information campaign on resettlement will be critical in
preventing pro-repatriation groups in the camps from gaining
momentum. Much work remains to be done in streamlining the
GON exit permission process, which now requires months to
complete. Post will use the small group of vulnerable
Bhutanese refugees, who will undergo pre-screening April 15 -
16, as a test case for a revamped exit permit process.

HUGINS