National Assembly Resolutions

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the ngolops committed a wide range of heinous crimes, from armed robbery and raids on Bhutanese villages to murder and rape. They had destroyed schools and health facilities and other public infrastructure. Despite personal appeals by His Majesty the King, they had not only sold all their belongings and left the country but tried to ruin the country’s image with false propaganda. Why was the government even taking part in the verification process ?

Members of the National Assembly expressed their alarm at even the remote possibility that some ngolops might be allowed to return to Bhutan. “Are we going to allow these people to return so that they can sow discord within our peaceful society ?” the Trashiyangtse chimi asked.

The chimis of Tsirang and Samtse said that the people had not forgotten what the ngolops had done to their villages and to the people before leaving Bhutan for good. The Sarpang chimi said that, as the ngolops were not capable of gratitude or loyalty they were not wanted in Bhutan.

“This is a painful memory for the people of Sombey geog in Haa,” said the chimi of Sombey. “The ngolops inflicted indescribable humiliation and suffering on us. They looted our homes and raped our womenfolk. The idea of their return to our country has enraged the people.”

According to the Thimphu chimi the ngolops had been treated as Bhutanese citizens even though they had come from outside. The Trongsa chimi said the ngolops had violated the faith and trust of His Majesty the King, the government, and their own friends and neighbours. Accepting them back would be a grave security risk.

The Paro chimi said that the Nepalese government’s attempt to speed up the process of verification was not acceptable to the Bhutanese. “We have a right to screen what type of people are claiming to be Bhutanese refugees,” he said. “The government should carry out the verification process according to the four agreed categories and in accordance to the laws of the country.”

The Dagana chimi said that accepting ngolops into the country would be violating the existing Citizenship Act.

Several chimis requested the government to brief the Assembly on the refugee issue, on the status of the joint verification process, and the progress of the talks between Bhutan and Nepal.

Reminding the Assembly members about the background of the refugee issue the foreign minister, Lyonpo Jigmi Thinley, said that about 84,000 people, claiming to be Bhutanese refugees, had gathered in the camps in Nepal by the winter of 1991. Today the refugee population stood at more than 100,000, around 10,700 of them born in the camps.

In the bilateral process which had been initiated to solve the problem the first dialogue between the two countries, held in July, 1993, agreed to:

Categorise the people in the refugee camps;
Make known the positions of each country on each of the categories;
Harmonise the positions of the two countries on each of the categories.

Out of 11 ministerial joint committee meetings that were held the 10th meeting, held in December, 2000, had produced a substantial outcome. The two sides agreed on the process of verification, the constitution of the verification team, and the first camp to be verified. It was also decided that the two countries would then simultaneously harmonise their positions on each of the categories. After the harmonisation, the verification process in the first camp would be considered completed and the process would move on to the next camp.

The verification process began on March 26, 2001. The Bhutanese team, led by Dasho Sonam Tenzin of the home ministry, comprised members who had in-depth knowledge of the citizenship act, those with technical and computer expertise, and those who were proficient in the Nepali language.

Although Bhutan made every effort to complete the verification process as quickly as possible, despite the difficult conditions, the Nepalese government had felt that the process was too slow. The 11th MJC meeting discussed the possibility of accelerating the process of verification and decided to include one more expert from both sides into the verification team. The two countries also decided that the verification team would be divided into two groups and carry out separate verification instead of doing it together.

But just before completion of the verification process, a new problem arose. The Nepalese team brought up the issue of identifying the next camp that should be taken up for verification. “It also became evident that they were not keen on placing the people into the four categories,” Lyonpo Jigmi Thinley said. “Contrary to what was already agreed and decided in the agreed minutes, the Nepalese side did not want to harmonise positions on the four categories to work towards a solution to the problem.”

Meanwhile, on December 13, 2001, verification in the Khudanabari camp was completed. The two teams had worked for 151 days and, within this period, verified 12,804 people living in 2,082 huts.
“Now if we are to take the verification process further, if we are to make it a success, we have to put the 12,804 persons - or 3,124 families - who have been interviewed into the four categories,” Lyonpo Jigmi Thinley said. “But before this, we have to come to an agreement on what position the two sides will take on each category and see whether we can harmonise our positions to resolve the problem facing both our countries.”

To facilitate the process the royal government had directed its ambassador to India and Nepal, Lyonpo Dago Tshering, to discuss the issue with his Nepalese counterpart in New Delhi. Discussions with Nepalese leaders had also been conducted during the SAARC summit in Kathmandu. Meanwhile, on the directives of the council of ministers, the foreign minister had met the Nepalese prime minister during his recent trip to New York.

“In our efforts to find a solution to the problem we invited the former Nepalese foreign minister, Mr. Bastola, to Bhutan for unofficial consultations,” Lyonpo Jigmi Thinley said. “We asked him to brief us on the expectations of the Nepalese people.”

A similar invitation was extended to Mr. Madhav Kumar Nepal, the leader of the opposition party, and some members of the Nepalese parliament.

“Mr. Nepal said that, before his trip to Bhutan, he had always thought that all the refugees in the camps were genuine Bhutanese citizens and that they were forcefully evicted from Bhutan,” the foreign minister said. “However, after coming to Bhutan and meeting with His Majesty the King, the ministers, the civil servants and the people from the private sector, he has changed his view. That is why, if there is a 12th joint verification meeting, there is hope that we might finally be able to come up with concrete results.”

Lyonpo Jigmi Thinley expressed his regret that the Nepalese parliament had been dissolved and the ruling party itself was divided, undermining the position of the prime minister. The unstable political situation in Nepal might affect the ongoing dialogue and, thereby, delay a solution.

The home minister, Lyonpo Thinley Gyamtsho, reminded the Assembly that the royal government’s position had always been clear.

A large proportion of the 100,000 or so people in the seven camps in Nepal were not genuine Bhutanese citizens. Many were non Bhutanese, who after working in Bhutan, had gone to the camps claiming to be refugees. Even some ngolop leaders who had studied in Bhutan were found to be non Bhutanese.

A national census, conducted in 1988, had revealed that there were about 113,000 non-Bhutanese workers in Bhutan, both legal and illegal. Today there were some 50,000 registered non nationals working in various development projects. These workers could also claim Bhutanese citizenship if there was no proper screening and verification by the government.

He said that the refugee numbers had increased because of the easy life in the camps. With aid coming from international agencies, even local Nepalese had registered themselves as refugees. It had been reported that WFP alone had given assistance worth about US$ 8.50 million, or Nu 425 million, to the refugees in one year.

The home minister added that the intentions of the ngolops had been made clear in the several demand letters that they had sent to His Majesty the King and the royal government. They want to bring about a multi party system in Bhutan, grant amnesty to all those who have criminal charges against them, and change the citizenship laws to enable people of Nepali origin to obtain Bhutanese citizenship.

The home minister said that, as pointed out by some chimis, some people from the camps were coming to Bhutan regularly, breaching the immigration rules. He assured the Assembly that the royal government was doing its best, through strict implementation of citizenship and immigration rules and vigilance at checkpoints, to restrict the illegal entry of outsiders into Bhutan.

The Haa chimi proposed the cancellation of the citizenship ID cards issued in 1981. Bhutanese citizens could be issued with new cards. He pointed out that anyone possessing an ID card could easily pass through the checkpoints. It was like allowing them to come inside the country to carry out subversive activities.

His Majesty the King reminded the Assembly that the 10th ministerial joint committee meeting was held in Nepal two years ago and the 11th MJC meeting was held in Bhutan last year. Officials of the two governments had signed the agreed documents after extensive discussions.

His Majesty said that, if the government of Nepal had abided by the agreements worked out and signed by the MJC, the two governments would have made good progress in resolving the problem of the people in the refugee camps. The delay in the 12th MJC meeting was caused mainly by Nepal’s refusal to abide by the decisions made by the two governments during the 10th and 11th MJC meetings.

The members were also aware that the 12th MJC meeting was delayed by internal problems in Nepal. It was important to hold the next meeting as soon as possible, said His Majesty.

The Speaker of the Assembly noted that the government of Bhutan had faithfully abided by the joint decision on the categorisation of the people in camps into four different categories. He also expressed the appreciation of the Assembly members for the good work done by the Bhutanese officials on the verification team.

The National Assembly resolved that the government should continue to follow the Citizenship Act and the resolutions of the National Assembly. Meanwhile the government should continue discussions with the government of Nepal to seek a lasting solution to the problem.