85,000 exiled Bhutanese could be absorbed
Kathmandu, May 22: Nepal's Foreign Minister Sahana Pradhan said the western countries have agreed to absorb at least 85,000 exiled Bhutanese as part of the third country settlement process.
Speaking at a function organised by Nepal's Institute of Foreign Affairs in Kathmandu on Monday, countries expressing interest to absorb the exiled Bhutanese include the US, Canada, Australia, Norway and New Zealand.
Pradhan admitted Nepal's failure during 15 rounds of bilateral talks with Bhutan for not sorting out possible outlet.
She said those not willing for third country settlement should be given the right to honourable return to their land.
She said the Nepalese government would send a delegation to Thimphu to talk on the issue very soon. "Repatriation and third country resettlement should go side by side simultaneously," she added.
Pradhan stressed that resettlement of exiled Bhutanese in third country is just a temporary solution. She said Nepal has always given priority to repatriation and urged the Bhutanese government to expedite the repatriation process despite stalling the imbroglio further more.
In response to a query of the Bhutan News Service, she said that Canada has shown willingness to resettle some 5,000 exiled Bhutanese. She also informed that Australia has not specified the figure yet. She also said the resettlement process would start from upcoming July.
Foreign secretary Gyan Chandra Acharya said the problem has prolonged due to unclear stand of the Bhutanese regime.
President of Druk National Congress Thinely Penjore said Bhutan has transformed itself into a cage for human being and stressed the need of India's involvement in finding the solution of the problem.
He said the Bhutanese government acts is terrorist way but imposes such tag on innocent citizens. He demanded involvement of third party to accelerate the repatriation process.
The country representative of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) in Nepal Abraham Abraham underlined the need for an Indian role to resolve the problem.
He said, "India has to play a role to help the situation."
But all concerned parties should engage in concerted manner with genuine and sincere efforts to find lasting solution to the refugee problem, he added.
Abraham said the UNHCR was not dictating exiled Bhutanese for any options to choose. He stressed all available and possible options must go parallel.
"The situation in camps is pitiful and they need immediate humanitarian relief" he said.
President of Bhutan People Party, Balaram Poudel said the Nepal government must form a permanent task force to cope-up with the crisis. "Resettlement is not going to yield democratic changes in Bhutan", Poudel said.
Presenting a paper 'Bhutanese refugees crisis and its solution' former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Nepal, K. P. Sharma Oli said repatriation of exiled Bhutanese would be first step towards democratization in Bhutan.
He admitted Nepal would never make Bhutan agree to initiate the repatriation process. "Bhutan is never been sincere to resolve the problem", Oli said, adding- "This is the problem between Bhutan and the Bhutanese people but not between Bhutan and Nepal."
Prakash A. Raj, former UNHCR official in Pakistan said Nepal's effort until date has failed to bring fruitful results.
Dhruva Joshi of Friends of Bhutan said Nepal government must recognise BMSC as the leading organisation of the exiled Bhutanese, which Hari Adhikari Bangaley criticized saying right to repatriation would never end by resettlement in the US.
Prof Dr Mahendra P. Lama, from School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University suggested for an independent commission to identify Bhutanese and non-Bhutanese citizens in camps.
"If we don't resolve this crisis there are serious threats on political stability in the south Asian region", Lama said. Bhutan News Service/Vidhyapati Mishra