HRWF-Bhutan

Opinion Forum

"THE CURRENT SITUATION OF THE REFUGEES"
Tek Nath Rizal, Chairman, BMSC

Introduction
Bhutan, a dot on the map, nestled in the pocket of the Himalayas and member of the United Nations has gone through several categories of humanitarian exploitations for decades under the rule of absolute and autocratic monarch, King Jigme Sengye Wangchuk. Land grabbing, killing, rape, arson, torture and looting of properties by regime-sponsored armed forces ultimately made more than one hundred thousand people homeless, displaced across Indo-Bhutan border and refugees for over sixteen years now. In spite of our repeated appeals to the United Nations and the international community, besides meager sustenance support for the refugees, process towards resolving the problem by giving justice to the victims have not been forthcoming.

The refugees have lived a warehousing life managed by UNHCR in Nepal ever looking towards nations like India and the United States for a durable solution to the suffering people. A visit in the camps would confirm the statement. Children of yesteryears have grown beyond manhood and those born in the camps under malnutrition, limited education, medicine and health care have been growing through a frustrating life.

The Appeals for Resolving Refugee Impasse
For no crime of the people, the regime branded them either anti-nationals or terrorists. While the world community watches Bhutan King demonstrating his unique power over ignorant population of less than a million, more than 20% of the population has been made the refugees which is a direct humanitarian crime done unto the people and literally overlooked by the United Nations despite of Bhutan being the member with its permanent office at New York.

We have made all out desperate efforts to appeal the SAARC regions to look into the refugee imbroglio in order to help resolve the deteriorating situation regionally hoping India, as the largest Asian Democracy to use its diplomatic influence over Bhutan to help bring an end to the atrocities being meted to the people. Instead of coming forward to save the people, India has been silent and commented the problem as bilateral issue of Bhutan and Nepal. India’s attitude towards Nepal’s struggle for real democracy has been positive all the time while it invited Bhutan King as its Chief Guest during the celebration of the 2005 Republic day giving moral boost to the oligarchy.

Towards the process of resolving Bhutanese refugee problem, on the part of Nepal, fifteen rounds of bilateral efforts in fifteen years proved futile as Bhutan outsmarted Nepal in dealing with the problem. Taking advantage of the SAARC Secretary being a Bhutanese, several attempts have been made to appeal the SAARC Secretariat here in Kathmandu to pay their attention to the problem. But the secretariat to our dismay, showed its reluctance to accept our memorandum being submitted in good faith and expectations for their intervention.

The Bhutanese refugees, failing to receive any response from any corner of the world community have been sitting in front of the UN office at Kathmandu and the SAARC secretariat for the last six months with no response from the duo.

Cosmetic Political Change
There is enough of campaign world over by countries like America, India and the European communities for justice to humanity, but their influence have failed to reach to Bhutan as the King has been exercising his dictatorial power all the way through from refugee making to denial of rights of his own citizens to the mainstream of the national citizenship. Against the patience of the suffering refugees, the Bhutan King declared the process of so called “Democracy” by excluding a large section of its population. Giving a “Pseudo Democracy”, the King is setting a tradition of royal legacy for his children by establishing the package of political change that suite the royal families and the elites.

Under the camouflage of the King’s shrewd diplomacy, prematurely abdicating the throne on December 9, 2006 in favor of his son against the provision to retire at the age of 65 as enshrined in his own drafted Constitution the King is making a strategic move to shy away from the problem created during his reign. King Jigme Senge Wangchuk is leaving the unresolved crisis in the raw hand of his young prince. Being one of the five princes of the King would obviously help patch up family problem rather than bringing happiness and prosperity to the people. It goes to find a place in the Genius Book of Record, “the country to be ruled by two Kings”. The peace and harmony which the people cherished for centuries will be jeopardized as the sanctity of Bhutan will be torn apart in the hands of the duo power.

Recalling the beginning of the era of the fourth King, due to immaturity during his ascension, the Bhutanese people have suffered tremendously living an animal life. Dictated to live with in the parameters of the code of conduct, categorized into seven tore the families apart and ultimately made large portion of its citizens the refugees. The refugee making in 1990 and long period of one and a half decade suffering in the refugee camps is the result of wrong governance of the child king. The new King will follow the evil path of his father and continue suppressing and oppressing his subjects as the bridle of governance is being handing over to the boy who raw and immature. It is at this point of time that the United States of America, which hosts the world representatives in the United Nations House, intervenes all of a sudden only to lift sixty-thousand refugees to America as a shortcut measure to temporarily resolve the impasse by means of third country resettlement.

The Third Country Resettlement

America, if desirous of giving humanitarian relief to the suffering refugees, it could use its diplomatic influence through United Nations to resolve the problem which could be the only means of giving justice to the people. Otherwise, the suffering of the refugee relatives inside the country who live discriminated life and those incarcerated by the regime and living in Bhutan jails would be left with their families taken to third country resettlement. On the other hand, the older generations and the youth would be practically lured to the USA at a time when they desperately wished to return to their place of birth. As Bhutan government stubbornly shows its reluctance to accept its citizens back to their homesteads, the American offer of third country resettlement demonstrates supporting to achieve Bhutan regime’s objectives.

On the other hand, taking advantage of the situation, Bhutan government already announced possible eviction of another sixty-thousand people in the name of foreign laborers. Instead of saving the suffering people from plunging into the ditch of no return, the agencies from different directions show their interest to support Bhutan King’s interest by being reluctant to resolve the problem or withdrawing from humanitarian assistance. The World Food Program has also threatened the refugees of their failure to provide any further sustenance in the forthcoming fiscal of 2007 while the UNHCR has been perpetually expressing about the donor crunch which indirectly supports the position of Bhutan’s regime not to accept repatriation or resolving the imbroglio.

Conclusion
The US as world’s leading democracy should tell the Bhutanese people of its kind of justice being given for the life and blood sacrificed in the building of Bhutan into a full fledged nation through contribution of selfless labor and skills, serving its regime with material contribution and protecting the land from possibilities of encroaching neighbors for centuries. The mass Bhutanese refugees, all of whom have left their landed properties behind in the hands of the ruling families remain uncompensated. How would it be justified leaving the King unquestioned about the compensations, reimbursement of its costs and above all justifying peoples’ ineligibility to citizenship rights?