Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09KATHMANDU528
2009-06-19 05:55:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

A/S BLAKE RAISES TIBETAN, BHUTANESE REFUGEES IN

Tags:  PREF PREL PHUM BT CH NP 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000528 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

FOR PRM, SCA/INS, EAP/C

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PREL PHUM BT CH NP
SUBJECT: A/S BLAKE RAISES TIBETAN, BHUTANESE REFUGEES IN
KATHMANDU

Summary
-------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000528

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

FOR PRM, SCA/INS, EAP/C

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREF PREL PHUM BT CH NP
SUBJECT: A/S BLAKE RAISES TIBETAN, BHUTANESE REFUGEES IN
KATHMANDU

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


1. (SBU) The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) representative in Kathmandu told visiting Assistant
Secretary Robert Blake that registration and i.d. card
issuance for the Tibetan refugee population remains
politically sensitive, but that UNHCR remains optimistic
progress can be made. The Nepali Prime Minister and Foreign
Minister expressed support for refugee protection and
third-country resettlement, but urged the U.S. and others to
press Bhutan to accept repatriation. The Assistant Secretary
emphasized the importance of protecting both Tibetan and
Bhutanese refugees and promised to continue raising the
repatriation of refugees with the Government of Bhutan.

UNHCR
--------------


2. (SBU) Daisy Dell, Representative of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Nepal, told
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia
Robert Blake on June 12 that Tibetan refugee issues,
including resettlement, continue to be politically sensitive
and difficult to resolve. Dell also reported that the
Government of Nepal (GON) is still resisting Chinese pressure
to close the Transit Center for new Tibetan arrivals. UNHCR
recently confirmed the GON's willingness to assist new
arrivals from the border region in reaching the Transit
Center, and its firm commitment to protect Tibetans from
deportation.


3. (SBU) Dell said UNHCR is currently focusing its efforts on
reissuance of refugee identification cards (last issued in
1986) to qualifying Tibetans and issuance of new cards to
their children over the age of 16 and other immediate family
members. She acknowledged that the change of government is
delaying the start of this program. Dell said she is
continuing discussions at the working level and believes a
registration/ID program may be possible within six months.
The UNHCR Representative hopes that the registration program
will eventually address the estimated 6,000-7,000 post-1990
arrivals who currently have no status. She admitted that
initially the government has only agreed to reissue cards to
Tibetans who already have them -- and to those who are
clearly entitled to derivative status.


4. (SBU) Dell thanked A/S Blake for U.S. leadership in
seeking a durable solution for the protracted Bhutanese
refugee problem. She reported that more than 15,000 have
already been resettled to third countries, and more than
70,000 have expressed interest in resettlement. UNHCR is
beginning to look ahead to the post-resettlement period; she
acknowledged that Bhutan's continuing intransigence does not
make repatriation a likely option, at least in the near term.
The UNHCR Representative noted that senior GON officials
continue to be equally opposed to local integration, but that
at the working level there is an acknowledgment that a
residual Bhutanese population will be left in Nepal at the
conclusion of the resettlement program. Dell is leading an
effort to engage other UN agencies in development efforts
that will integrate services provided to the local community
with those provided to the refugees, thereby making a more
conducive environment for long-term local integration.

Prime Minister
--------------


5. (SBU) In a meeting on June 12 with A/S Blake (septel),
Prime Minister M.K. Nepal thanked the United States for its
generosity in resettling so many Bhutanese refugees -- with
one caveat. Resettlement, in his view, constituted a
shifting of the problem, not a solution. The refugees should
be able to return to their own country. He expressed the
hope that the U.S. and other countries would put pressure on
Bhutan to allow that to happen.

KATHMANDU 00000528 002 OF 002



Foreign Minister
--------------


6. (SBU) Responding to a strong plea by A/S Blake for Nepal
to protect both Tibetan and Bhutanese refugees, Foreign
Minister Sujata Koirala confirmed on June 12 that the GON
would continue to offer protection, as in the past, and she
requested UNHCR to follow up immediately with her if any
issues arose. Koirala reported that, during a trip to Texas
in 2008, resettled Bhutanese refugees she met appeared to be
happy and adapting well. She stressed, however, that those
preferring repatriation, especially the elderly, should have
that right. The Assistant Secretary agreed, and promised
that, even though the Government of Bhutan did not want to
accept any refugees back, we would continue to raise the
issue, particularly the right of the elderly to return.

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


7. (SBU) The current coalition's professions of support for
refugees strike us as genuine. The biggest challenge for the
Nepali Government at present, even more than Chinese pressure
on Tibetan issues, is assembling a functioning cabinet.
Until then, progress seems unlikely.
POWELL