Wangdi had applied for political asylum in Germany in August 2003, when he reached there to join his father, Tshering Penjore, a political asylee since 2002.

Issuing a press statement yesterday, Druk National Congress (DNC) led by RK Dorji said that amidst the serious efforts made by a core-group of countries to resolve the long-standing problem by offering the option of third country resettlements – Germany decided to deport a DNC activist to Bhutan. 

Family sources said the Bhutanese Embassy in Switzerland on the request of the foreign office in Hannover issued a new passport for Wangdi for the purpose of deporting him to Bhutan.

" It is shameful on the part of the Bhutanese authorities that they deny to accept thousands of Bhutanese opting for repatriation but was forthcoming to issue a passport to a political activist to dump him in the draconian Bhutanese prison".

On July 2, Tandin was called to the foreign office in Hannover and asked to sign some papers to complete the formalities of deportation.

"He was informed that his date of boarding the plane was fixed for the July 9. The authority even seized his visa prolongation card and instead a plain visa valid until July 9 was issued", told Wangdi father Tshering Penjore.

According to DNC, its cadre went underground for his safety on July 5 before the German authority took him into custody for forcible deportation to Bhutan. 

"DNC regrets the decision taken by the concerned German authority and believes that this has happened because of their inadequate knowledge on the political and human rights situation in Bhutan", told the statement adding, "The authorities could have simply conducted genetic tests to identify their blood relationship".

Tandin's defense advocate made this appeal but it was not entertained.

A couple of days back Tandin, who has managed to enter Switzerland illegally, confirmed his existence through a telephone call to the DNC office in New Delhi.

Durga Giri, Germany based general secretary of Bhutan People's Party repeatedly informed the Amnesty International (AI), London and its Germany branch about the possibility of threat to his life in case of his forceful deportation to Bhutan. He even requested the AI for immediate intervention but nothing happened as requested. 

"Even they are aware of the fact that so many political activists were killed in Bhutanese jails and a lot more have been still missing, the rights group failed to intervene Wangdi case", said Giri.
 
Honoring the efforts made by UN Refugee Agency, International Organization for Migration and the core-group countries in helping find a solution to the problem, DNC has appealed the concerned authorities to help Tandin Wangdi to get his asylum in Europe or or find a safe place for him to accommodate through third country resettlement, till DNC is able to go into Bhutan. Bhutan News Service