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| Kathmandu, Sunday July 20, 2003 Shrawan 04, 2060. |
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Druk Assembly members
against refugee repatriation
‘Opposition an orchestrated move’
By Damakant Jayshi
KATHMANDU, July 19 : Defying international
pressure, the Bhutanese National Assembly adopted a defiance posture as most members
opposed return of the 100,00-plus Bhutanese living in refugee camps in Nepal for more than
a decade.
The Bhutanese legislature asserted that the
Bhutanese living in Nepal should be prevented from re-entering the country at any cost,
online edition of the state-owned Kuensel weekly said.
According to a news posted on Friday in
kuenselonline, during discussions on the foreign ministers-level 14th Ministerial Joint
Committee (MJC) in the 81st session of Tshogdu, the chimis (members) expressed
"alarm" and "distress" that some of the ngolops (anti-nationals) will
be allowed to return.
The chimis from Tsirang and Sarpang said that
the people were distressed when they learnt that some of the "ngolops might be
allowed to return". The latter also claimed that the people in Bhutan did not want
the "emigrants" to return", adding that "if the government wanted to
bring some of them back it would first have to make clear all the conditions required for
Bhutanese citizenship".
The Dagana chimi said that "the people who left were either emigrants or criminals
and neither should be allowed to return", the news reported. Similarly, a chimi from
Punakha said that the people wanted to know on what grounds was the government allowing
these people to apply for citizenship. The government should abide by the citizenship laws
and Assembly resolutions, the news website said.
Incidentally, Tsirang and Sarpang (Sarbhang) are
those districts which had pre-dominantly Lhotsampa (Bhutanese of Nepalese origin) populace
before their exodus began in the late 80s and early 90s.
According to kuenselonline, some of the members
"disagreed with some of the decisions of the Nepal-Bhutan joint ministerial committee
and pressured the government to provide acceptable justifications".
The 14th MJC had agreed on the roadmap for the
repatriation of the Bhutanese refugees from the Khudunabari camp in Jhapa district. The
date for the first movement of the refugees back home and re-application for citizenship
in either of the countries has been set too: September 25 this year. Meanwhile,
Nepal-Bhutan Joint Verification Team’s report on categorisation of Khudunabari
refugees has created a huge furore with the refugees dismissing it outright and the United
States, the European Union, Germany calling for review of the findings and involvement of
a third party, preferably the UNHCR.
The member from Thimphu expressed surprise at
Assembly members discussing the resettlement of the ngolops. "I think we are removing
our shoes before we reach the river," he said. "We have laws in our country and
they must not be undermined due to pressures from foreign people and countries."
Meanwhile, replying to criticism of the MJC
decision, Home Minister (the then Foreign Minister during the 14th round of talks), Jigme
Y Thinley said that the MJC, with the
announcement of the results of the
categorisation, had given the people an opportunity to appeal, with documentation or
proof. However, the minister pointed out that "without documentation, the appeals
would be rejected even if there were a large number of people appealing". More than
94 per cent of the refugees have appealed against the JVT report.
Meanwhile, refugee leaders in exile slammed the
whole debate in the Druk National Assembly as an orchestrated move. "It is purely an
orchestrated move to criticise the government," R B Basnet, the president of Bhutan
National Democratic Party (BNDP) told The Kathmandu Post. "The Assembly members are
well-briefed and trained. They are coached on what to say and how to say it."
When asked if the opposition in the Assembly was
a counter-move to thwart international pressure on Bhutan, Basnet replied, "Although
it is not new for this kind of debate against the refugees in the Assembly, this time the
pitch is higher in the light of international criticism."
Rakesh Chhetri, executive director of the Centre
for Protection of Minorities and Against Racism and Discrimination in Bhutan
(CEMARD-Bhutan) said opposition to the refugee repatriation in the Assembly is a sham.
"It has no meaning."
Responding to opposition to the JVT procedures
in Nepal, Minister Thinley informed the Assembly that the government of Nepal, which had
made good progress in the talks, had collapsed. "The new government was criticising
the decision and the agreement made by the former government. Political parties were even
talking of nullifying the agreement." In what could be ominous message to the
refugees re-applying for citizenship, the National Assembly resolved that the foreign
minister and home minister of Bhutan and other officials would continue the bilateral
process with the government of Nepal, "bearing in mind the country’s laws,
citizenship act, and the Assembly resolutions".
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