Bhutanese refugee issue: looking from inside (Exclusive)

By Kenjang Sharma
 
It has become more than one and half decades that a part of Bhutan population, over 100,000 Bhutanese citizens, have been leading the miserable life of asylum in the refugees camps in eastern part of Nepal. At present these people have been facing the misfortune of trinity; the past which has the heart melting memoirs, present which has gone very near to almost death and the future which is becoming the landmark of black hole.

More than 15 bilateral talks between the government of Nepal and Bhutan were insanely and vainly concluded. They remained beneficial only to the personnel of the involving party. An over view of these talks show that Bhutan insists to encumber and Nepal insists to hang on this crisis beside misunderstanding, egotisms, superiorism, non cooperation and doggy role of the Bhutanese political activists play a detrimental role in turning the hope of the people’s return back to homeland into futile deadlock. India, the biggest democratic country in Asia, always puts the refugee’s petition in shadow and replies their attempts to return homeland with hatred, deception, injuries and sorrows. Not less than a dozen times the refugees have attempted to return to us on their own but India against the expectation of the Bhutanese people became the complication. India from the very beginning has battered the refugee's hope like ‘the pig does to the pear.’ and we are facing the corrosion inside Bhutan due to India's dominancy over it. There is no doubt that at present the Bhutanese refugee would be accustomed with the improved expedient political set-up and economic boom in their homeland if India would have shown interest in resolving this crisis in the decade of 1990s.

The years prolonging Joint Verification work of assigned team of Bhutanese and Nepalese Government representatives is another episode of demonstration against the fate of the fellow Bhutanese people hopping to return early. The government of Nepal always blames Bhutan for the sake of lament excuse. Besides, Nepal is benefited hosting the international agencies along with refugees, numbers of Nepalese citizens are employed in the international scale and illegally employed Bhutanese refugee teachers in numbers of private boarding schools are accountable to raise standard of education there. Due to this long term economic booms, the Government of Nepal neither motors up the case nor is ready to internationalize it, otherwise, it would not be reprieved only by blaming the Bhutanese counterpart. Before it is too late, now it is time to say that no government should play against the fate of over hundred thousands for the sake of diplomatic infrastructures. To advocate on behalf of the victimized is a far diplomatic accomplishment than to sit with the counterpart for a tea party. So, the government of Nepal must act to provide justice to the Bhutanese refugees otherwise there will be repetition of 90s again or once more the banks of Nepalese rivers will be filled by another batch of refugees.

Still at present also we, the Nepali origin Bhutanese citizens, are facing innumerable threats and pressures obligated indirectly by the Royal Government of Bhutan. The main intention of the Bhutanese government is to evict other more Bhutanese citizens. If the present batch of Bhutanese refugees is settled in the third country or host country Nepal then the Bhutanese monarch will surely proceed to his next chapter of eviction and this will make another group of fortuneless people becoming burden in SAARC nations. Does UNHCR want some more fateless people like Bhutanese refugees in South Asia any more? If not why it is advocating for the third country settlement despite the first option mentioned by them. The second grand mass revolution 2006 in Nepal crumpled the history of hitherto and is building the new countenance for the sake of its people. From this government we Bhutanese have expected a good deal to heal up the fragmentary between the two kinds of Bhutanese people; we are living inside Bhutan and our relatives are living outside Bhutan.

Since then time changed, thoughts changed but no empathies are developed for the condition of the Bhutanese refugees and the future of the country, Bhutan. Our hope to see our relatives in the camps returning back to their homeland went in vain. Don't we have rights to see our relatives or native people returning back to their homeland? It is known that day by day the situation is worsening and degrading there in the camps. Basic requirements of living have become an option to death and agencies are tired of feeding and we have plenty of forested barren land previously cultivated by our people in the camps or that is now redistributed to the other Bhutanese nationals from the northern regions of the country. No proper health treatment is available in the camps now and in Bhutan we put out dated medicine in the pit. Don’t they have the right to use that medicine before it is too late? Another impending danger seen in the camps is no hope after SLC. The students who passed higher secondary are sitting aimlessly in the camps since they have no opportunity for continuity and we have many colleges in need of the students in Bhutan. News reports says that now the local Nepalese are warning the refugees not to teach in the private boarding and even chasing them to the camp. From this one must know the reaction of a cat when it is bitten inside the room in which the doors are shut.

At present the Bhutanese refugees under the leadership of Tek Nath Rizal are demonstrating in Kathmandu valley for their return to Bhutan. We, living inside Bhutan, are also not sitting ideally. The present Bhutan is really in need of change and reformation. We now really doubt that the autocratic monarch, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, who is determined to suppress, exploit, torture, deprive and victimize the innocent Bhutanese nationals, is not suiting the modern Bhutan and its contemporaries. He has publicized the draft constitution to be executed from 2008. This draft does not recognize about 40% of the citizens who live are refugees in Nepal. So, how this constitution be trusted to provide justice when it is bias to a particular community? This in fact is another episode of the main ploy to victimize the citizen. It is only in Bhutan that people are deprived of the citizenry rights such as political activities, freedom of press, liberty on peoples will and other many more. We are still deprived from enjoying the fundamental human rights and we are often summoned at the court accused of hypothetical allegation with the motif of torture and eviction in long run. Our students in the college are barred to study law, Nepali language is still banned, and since 1990s no Nepali origin people are recruited in the high level government offices despite their ability and legitimacy.  So is the reason why we need change in Bhutan. The whims of revolution seeking political change jointly launch by Bhutanese people inside Bhutan, Bhutanese Maoists and out side Bhutanese (the refugees) is not far.  The iron is slowly becoming red-hot and the hammers are prepared to hit. 

In the hilly villages of most of the districts of Bhutan, we could see youth preaching the doctrines of communism-Maoism-Prachandapath and claiming them to be the Bhutanese Maoist to finish the monarchy in Bhutan, establishing people’s republican government in the country. Most of the Maoist youths say that they have passed senior secondary in Nepal or India and without further hope of education or livelihood became the Maoist activists. The other reason for their rise, as they say is because the peaceful movement could not do any thing to establish democracy in Bhutan. Almost all refugees have the psychological support to the Maoists because of the rising frustration in the camps. But we fear the Maoists in Bhutan and say that India is the father and Nepal is the mother of the Bhutanese Maoists, otherwise if India and Nepal have dealt the Bhutanese refugees crisis properly, we would be able to save our infrastructures for the next generation from the grip of destructions of Maoists in the near future.  Despite these efforts of national unity, integrity and sovereignty Abraham, UNHCR’s representative in Nepal, has been advocating an option of third country settlement or assimilation in Nepal.  It is alleged that some Bhutanese leaders support him. This is only the temporary solution of the case and an omen of humanitarian havoc in Bhutan and in place where they may be taken. If the Bhutanese refugees are taken to the third country, will these Maoists go to the third country? Will all the Bhutanese refugees accept either? I can swear that the majority of our fellow Bhutanese in the camps cannot go fickle by any other temptation except an option of returning to the homeland because they don't want to put us next in the trouble of leaving the country and they too have deep relation with the motherland still un-churned after sixteenth years of suffering.  It can be the strong determination that taking these Bhutanese refugees to the third country or assimilating them in the host country is to make this crisis more complicated than is at present.

In reality, the Bhutanese refugee crisis is not the problem of India, Nepal or UHNCR as well. It is the problem of the Bhutanese monarch and the Bhutanese citizens. Rather than dealing this case by Nepal or India without actually involving the refugees, they should mediate and organize the fair environment for the dialogue of refugee leaders with the Bhutanese monarch. It is better to advocate on behalf of their rights than to put legacies against their wills, hopes and future. The need of the time is that no Bhutanese people should be taken to the third country. They have their own country where they have born, have right to settle and live in peacefully in this land, exercising the political rights and enjoying human rights.

(Note: This article is received by Bhutan News Service from anonymous reader of our website. The opinion expressed in the article is solely of the writer. BNS does not bear any responsibility of the writer’s opinion. Writer is a teacher in one of the schools in Damphu Bhutan and can be reached at [email protected].)