November 13, 2009: Bhutan’s politics changes substantially last year. However, have there been any changes in terms of human rights. International community sent applauses for changes in governance system. And now the world will see the first report of Bhutan’s commitments and improvement in human rights situation.
The report has already been prepared and submitted to UN Human Rights Council and scheduled to be discussed on December 4. This is possible the first human rights report from this kingdom.
The report mentions nothing about recent human rights violations in the country. However, the report highlighted many mini programs that government initiated as massive human rights campaigns. While writing nothing about torture, killings and detention during 1990 and 1997 demonstrations, Bhutan made yet another efforts to hoodwink the international community about its racist policies.
According to the government report, the illegal immigrants mingled easily with the local Lhotsampa population of southern Bhutan who are of ethnic Nepalese origin, registering themselves as Bhutanese citizens through fraudulent means. They escaped detection due to the weak administrative system in the south and because of their ethnic, cultural and linguistic affinities with the Lhotsampas, who had received Bhutanese citizenship in 1958.
The report further said, the first nationwide census of the country in 1988 revealed the presence of a large number of illegal immigrants and an unnatural population increase in southern Bhutan. The gravity of the situation led the government to implement the country’s citizenship and immigration laws more strictly. Unfortunately, people with vested political interests misled the masses in the South to claim discrimination against southern Bhutanese, fomenting political turmoil in the country.
The report added, in 1991, the opening of the refugee camps in eastern Nepal without any screening procedures to verify their refugee status quickly led to the congregation of all kinds of people in the camps. The problem of the people in the refugee camps in eastern Nepal is not a typical refugee situation, but one of highly complex nature, with its genesis in illegal immigration.
The country that ran away from the verification process in 2002 claimed it wishes to find solution of the protracted crisis. The report failed to mention the verification of the Khudunabari camp revealed, despite discriminations, over 80 percent genuine Bhutanese citizens.
To counter the government report, the Netherland-based human rights group, Global Human Rights Defense has filed alternative report at the council for review.
According to GHRD, its five-page submission highlighted human rights issues observed in the field by GHRD partners since the late 1990’s. Arbitrary arrests, torture and degrading treatments, conditions on elections, prison conditions, freedom of speech, press and religion, discrimination against women, minorities and refugees were all highlighted in the report. APFA Bhutan schedules to submit an alternative report on human rights abuses by early December to Human Rights Council.
when bhutanese govt tried to find solution, refugees tried to kill them. now they can suffer for etetnty in damned places.
Does the report contain issue on thousands of people living stateless in Bhutan, so called F5? i think this is one major issue to tackle in the forth coming UN meet for human rights. This will reduce headache for Bhutan as well as solve the problem of these people for ever.
Dear Readers,
The report of the RGOB is totally wrong and misleading. How dare the RGOB to term the citizens as the illegal immigrants. I know, I was born and brought up in Bhutan, my father and grandfather were born in Present day Sarpang Bhutan. We have been living as the loyal citizens of the country for generations. The govt. provoked the southern Bhutanese by conducting unfair census exercise targeting the southern populace. I was in late teens when the 1988 census was conducted.
The most corrupt officials were deployed to carry this census to intrigue and harass the people. They asked to produce irrelevant documents such as the land tax receipt of the year 1958 and the Certificate of Origin (CO)intentionally to harass and evict the people. The RGOB exercise this kind of tactic to coerce and intimidate the people. The state atrocities was untold misery. The RGOB went to the possible extent to evict the Lhompha (Southern Bhutanese)by all means.
The RGOB let loose the security personnel to plunder, rape and to demolish the houses. This kind of atrocities forced to flee the people to seek safe sanctuary in Nepal and India. Bhutan failed to come out with the amicable solution even after 16th round of bilateral talks with Nepal in 16 years which was a clear indication that it is down playing with its own people.
We the Bhutanese people living in the refugee camps suffered so much that it is behind repairs. Even then the RGOB still accusing us; it is a big shame. Some die hard supporter of RGOB like Dorji makes comment without understanding the ground realities.
It is shame on him to say that RGOB was trying to find the solution for the refugees. The Khudunabari episode was pre-meditated tactic to prolong the festering prolong and to get away with the situation.
It is still a pain in my heart, even after resettling in the most advance country -US for me to hear such false and misleading stories of the Government.
I believe, the truth will prevail a day, then the world will know all the untold human sufferings meted by RGOB in course of evicting the Lhompha..
I like to congratulates the entire team of APFA news board for bringing up the Bhutan side of the report to be presented in Geneva on December 4/09.
Devi B. Adhikari
Arizona,US
Children of F5 parents are born and brought up in the kingdom of Bhutan. Some of the children are above 30 years now.
F5 people are not yet granted citizenship by government.
F5 means:-
Mother is genuine Bhutanese citizen, father is a foreigner.
F5 children have no citizenship card, they are stateless.
They dont have proper,definitive laws that guarantees them rights to public services like education, health, business.
F5 cannot own business licence, vehicle licence
F5 cannot inherit fixed properties like land, house.
F5 cannot get Passport, hence they are crippled. They cannot move out of the country, sometimes within the country.
No body wants to socially engage with F5 people.
Many of the F5 were born as early as early 1970s.
F5 children can read, write and speak dzongkha.
F5 children are well aware of country’s culture and tradition
….and many more
Dorji,
Let you live in cage for the rest of your live as you think the cage that you are living in is the heaven on earth. Live as a robet and act as per the botten pressed by your lord.
I wish you good luck.
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