A/S SAUERBREY DISCUSSES REFUGEE PROBLEM WITH

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 005243

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SCA/INS, DRL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PGOV PHUM PREL PINR IN BT
SUBJECT: A/S SAUERBREY DISCUSSES REFUGEE PROBLEM WITH
BHUTANESE OFFICIALS


1. (SBU) Summary: On a November 4-7 trip to Bhutan, Assistant
Secretary for Population, Refugee, and Migration (PRM) Ellen

SIPDIS
Sauerbrey met with the Fourth and former King Jigme Singye
Wangchuck, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, and the
Managing Director of Kuensel, the national newspaper. The
former King explained the complexity of identifying bonafide
Bhutanese citizens in the refugee camps in Eastern Nepal,
attributing the problem to a corrupt system and a 17-year
delay in registration. He also discounted fears regarding
the possibility of a second expulsion of ethnic Nepalese
people from Bhutan, and outlined a possible timeframe for
resuming negotiations with Nepal to arrange for the
repatriation of a small number of "true" Bhutanese citizens
residing in the camps once new governments are in place in
both countries. The former King thanked the USG for stepping
forward to resettle refugees in the U.S. End Summary.

Some History and A Word of Caution
--------------


2. (SBU) On November 5, PRM A/S Ellen Sauerbrey provided an
update on the situation in the refugee camps in Nepal and the
process of resettlement to former King Jigme Singye
Wangchuck. He responded by describing the refugee problem in
Nepal as complex and unique, asserting that a large number of
people in the camps who claim to be Bhutanese refugees were
not recognized as Bhutanese nationals when they fled Bhutan
in the early 1990s. The former King complained that United
Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) did not screen
the refugees upon their initial arrival in Nepal (Note: The
Government of Nepal (GON) did not request UNHCR assistance in
forming refugee camps in Nepal until after several thousand
refugees had already arrived in Nepal. End Note.) Only
"after 15-16 years" did UNHCR secure the GON's permission to
carry out a robust census of the camp population. He claimed
that the current population in the camps includes not only
Bhutanese citizens, but also Nepali and Indian citizens as
well. The former King noted Indian nationals in the camps to
be a delicate issue due to Bhutan's close relationship with
India. According to the former King, UNHCR recognizes that
not all the people in the camps are acknowledged Bhutanese
citizens. Nevertheless, he continued, UNHCR has invested
significant resources in the Bhutanese refugee camps over
time, and will not change its call for voluntary repatriation
and other durable solutions for this population, regardless
of their nationality. (Note: Many Bhutanese fled without
obtaining permission from the Bhutanese government, thereby
losing their citizenship according to Bhutanese law. End
Note.)


3. (SBU) The former King expounded that both Nepalis and
Indians moved to the camps claiming to be refugees because of
facilities, including education up to high school, health
care, housing, and food, which are better than those at most
refugee camps. Though no one wants to be a refugee, these
resources and facilities are better than what a rural
villager in India, Nepal, or Bhutan would have access to, the
former King contended. Western countries do not understand
this, he concluded.


4. (SBU) The former King further explained that in 1958,
under his father's leadership, ethnic Nepalis living in
Bhutan were granted citizenship on a one-time basis. Nepalis
had come to Bhutan in the 1800s as economic migrants looking
for jobs. While the government has records of who became a
citizen under this program, it was not until 1970 that the
government decided to issue identity cards. However, the
former King told A/S Sauerbrey, Bhutan made a mistake by
hiring an inexpensive printer in Kolkata to produce the
cards. Due to the poor quality of the identity cards, he
asserted, they could be easily forged. The former King also
described a "huge corrupt system" of people selling their
family name and claiming false familial ties, which he noted
will always contribute to difficulties in identifying true
Bhutanese citizens.

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5. (SBU) The former King contended that when Bhutan conducted
its first census in 1988, it found that a large number of
people had migrated unlawfully into the country since 1958.
He said Bhutan could not recognize these illegal migrants or
they would have been "flooded with hundreds of thousands of
economic migrants." He told A/S Sauerbrey that the Bhutan
government paid people money to leave, especially those who
had worked on the first hydropower plant. The former King
appealed to A/S Sauerbrey, saying Bhutan simply can not
afford to be generous with its immigration laws. The country
is small and though there is plenty of land, he outlined,
Bhutan offers its citizens a strong social support system
including free health care, free education, and a low
taxation bracket. With a small population, Bhutan is also
able to offer higher wages than surrounding countries for
unskilled labor. Such a system, he argued, is not possible
with lax immigration laws and open borders. A/S Sauerbrey
appreciated the background and sympathized with the need for
Bhutan to enforce its immigration laws and protect its
borders. She advanced the position, however that regardless
of how the situation got to where it is now, the USG simply
wants to find a humanitarian resolution for individuals who
have spent up to 17 years in the camps.

A Second Expulsion Not in the Works
--------------


6. (SBU) On whether there would be a second expulsion of
ethnic Nepalis who are Bhutanese citizens, the former King
unequivocally stated that those rumors are not true. He
postulated that the rumors began because Bhutan plans to
reduce the number of workers hired on contract from other
countries since construction will be suspended in 2008 for a
series of special events -- elections and the transition to
democracy, the coronation of the new King, and the
celebration of 100 years of monarchy. Tens of thousands of
contract workers will have to leave in 2008 as the country
celebrates these momentous occasions, and then everything
"will return back to normal," when construction resumes, the
former King promised. Even tourists will be redirected from
the capital Thimphu to other parts of the country during
these celebrations, he noted.


7. (SBU) On November 6, Kinley Dorji, Managing Director of
Kuensel, the national newspaper in Bhutan, reconfirmed that a
second expulsion was not in the works. Continuing to dispel
rumors which, he hinted, only ran in international circles,
Dorji asserted that in such a small, close-knit society like
Bhutan, big news like an expulsion would create a panic and
travel fast. Furthermore, Dorji noted that the
democratization process has made people more vocal about
their rights and an expulsion would surely provoke people to
protest loudly. The former King and Dorji both asserted that
ethnic Nepalis who are Bhutanese citizens enjoy full rights
as citizens and will vote in the upcoming election. Many
ethnic Nepalis are even running for political office.

Repatriation Possible and a Timeline
--------------


8. (SBU) A/S Sauerbrey pushed the former King to consider
repatriation of certain categories of people, like children
who have parents in Bhutan or the elderly who want to come
home to live out their final days. The former King adamantly
stated the issue is not age, but whether the person is a
bonafide Bhutanese citizen. He emphasized the need to extend
the bilateral Nepal-Bhutan verification exercise completed in
one camp in 2003 to all camps. The former King asserted that
the verification and repatriation process could only move
forward through bilateral negotiations with Nepal.


9. (SBU) The former King stressed the critical importance of
closely monitoring developments in Nepal. He expressed
particular concern over a statement made by the Nepali

NEW DELHI 00005243 003 OF 003


government indicating that they will not abide by any past
agreements -- though he admitted such statements needed to be
taken with a grain of salt given the unsettled political
circumstances in the country. Of additional concern to the
King are the Maoists, who have threatened that they will
recreate what they did in Nepal in Bhutan. He recounted the
bombings during the mock elections held in April 2007 as an
indication of the Maoists flexing their muscles. Bhutan must
keep a close watch and be careful, the former King
underscored.


10. (SBU) As for a timeline for restarting the process of
repatriation, the former King asked for a little more
patience. He believes it is prudent to wait for democratic
elections to take place in both Bhutan and Nepal before
taking on the repatriation issue. Currently, every
government institution in Bhutan is fully focuse on making
the transition to democracy a success. In Bhutan, that
process will be completed within the next four months, he
averred. He also noted that the current caretaker government
in Bhutan does not have the authority to make important
policy decisions. Unfortunately, an election timeline in
Nepal is more uncertain. Bhutan is not comfortable
negotiating with a Nepalese government which the former King
described as "clearly unstable" and "unable to stick to its
commitments."


11. (SBU) When A/S Sauerbrey asked if Bhutan would consider
people UNHCR identified for repatriation, the former King
maintained that UNHCR does not have the capability to
identify Bhutanese citizens. This is a job that only a joint
Bhutanese-Nepalese verification team can accomplish, he
firmly declared. However, he acknowledged that due to the
generosity of the USG resettlement plan, the numbers of
refugees in the camps will decrease, which will help put
pressure on Nepal and Bhutan to address the problem. The
former King expressed pleasant surprise that the USG, despite
the absence of diplomatic relations with Bhutan and with no
economic or other interest in the matter, is stepping forward
to resolve the problem.


12. (SBU) Kuensel newpaper's Kinley Dorji also addressed the
issue of repatriation in his meeting with A/S Sauerbrey,
noting that ethnic Nepali Bhutanese citizens still living in
Bhutan are in fact afraid of the people from the camps
returning. Ethnic Nepali Bhutanese citizens remember the
early 1990s which caused the refugee crisis, as a terribly
violent time in the country's history and they fear that the
return of a large number of ethnic Nepalis could lead to
ethnic tensions within Bhutan.


13. (SBU) Comment: A/S Sauerbrey had a productive visit to
Bhutan. Though Bhutan indicated firmly it cannot restart the
repatriation process at this time, it left the door open for
action after the Bhutan elections and once stability is
established in Nepal. All interlocutors expressed concern
over Maoists elements in the camps, but also acknowledged
that since disgruntled youth with no options are targets for
Maoists recruitment, it is important to find a solution
sooner rather than later. Once third country resettlement
begins, there will be fewer people in the camps and the hope
is that the verification process will be quicker than in the
past (a problem with the first verification exercise) and
Nepal and Bhutan will be able to work better together in the
future. The decision of the Bhutanese government to have A/S
Sauerbrey meet the former King instead of the current King
indicates the former King still owns the refugee problem that
transpired under his watch. End Summary.


14. (U) A/S Sauerbrey did not clear this cable, but members
of her staff did review it prior to its transmission.
MULFORD