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The Royal Government of Bhutan
contends that among other categories of people in the refugee camps in eastern Nepal, there is one category which comprises genuine Bhutanese citizens who
have "voluntarily" emigrated from the kingdom "fulfilling" all
legal requirements and observing all necessary formalities with regards to
orderly legal emigration. According to the government, these individuals have
forfeited their citizenship and have lost the right to return to the country. On this basis, the
Royal Government of Bhutan aims to disallow the
reentry of a large number of citizens if and when an understanding for
repatriation is reached.
The
refugee community insists that there has been no instance of "voluntary"
migration from Bhutan, and that people have been compelled to leave the country due to direct physical abuse, coercion, threats, harassment
and intimidation. The government, on the other hand, maintains that it has
documentary evidence; in most cases these include a filled
"voluntary" migration forms and agreements between the
"emigrants" and the local administration on court paper, duly stamped
and witnessed by the local magistrate, along with "joyous" scenes of
"emigrants" receiving compensation for their property recorded on
video.
The following papers include copies of documentation filed in a typical "voluntary" migration case
from Chirang district.
Form 1 - Form for voluntary migration
Form 2 - Form letter addressed to Gewog Gup (Village Headman)
Form 3- Form Agreement between local administration and emigrant
Form 4- Form letter addressed to local administrator
PROCEDURE
On the basis of the receipt of the emigration form by the
court, the District Magistrate invites the "emigrant" and the district
official to sign an Agreement which provides for "compensation" by the
government to the "emigrant". In many instances video cameras are on
hand to record for the future the actual handing-over of
"compensation" , the recipient having been forewarned to display his
happiness and joy for the camera. Also in many instances, immediately after the
video recording the recipient is relieved of some or all of his
"compensation' by officials as deductions on account of children's
education, medical services, prison charges at Nu.2,000.00 per month etc. Having
completed these formalities the "emigrant" has three days to be out of
the country failing which he will have violated the Agreement and will be liable
to a fine of Nu.1,000.00 and imprisonment of one year. The Agreement is witnessed
by the head of the district police and the village headman.
The procedure for "voluntary" migration begins with the filling up of printed
emigration forms conveniently made available to the villager by a considerate local administration in a language that the
alleged emigrant does not comprehend. Such forms have never existed before 1991. Neither the government nor
sympathisers of the regime are embarrassed over the "coincidence" in the timing of the
government's new policies vis-a-vis southern Bhutan and the first-time
availability of such convenient forms. The target collection of such completed
forms are achieved by various means, including torture of selected persons,
harassment and plain deception.
On the basis of such a form reportedly filled in by Ran Bahadur Kharga of
Lamidara and the forwarding of this to the court by the district administration
on 27.12.91, the Chirang District Court on 28.12.91 instructs the village
headman of Lamidara using another pre-printed
form letter to be present in the court along with the applicant on
31.12.91. On this date, the government "pays compensation" to the
emigrant for his land and property, the district administrator and voluntary
emigrant sign an Agreement, and
the district court relays approval to
the district administration to strike that person's name from the
records. If the 'emigrant' does not leave the country within three days, he will
have violated the agreement and will be liable to punishment and a fine of Nu
1,000.00 according to this letter. All this is accomplished in one day using printed forms that are
conveniently available.
If these documents are scrutinized a number of
striking features which highlight the government's foul plans are easily
observed.
1. ALL FORMS ARE PRE-PRINTED.
It should strike any observer as strange that standard forms should be available with the government for emigration of people as if it were a
routine matter. This is even more astounding considering that the Royal
Government claimed, and continues to maintain, that the current problems in
Bhutan have resulted from the pressure of illegal immigrants entering the
country. If indeed waves of economic migrants
have been streaming in throughout these past few decades, why should legal Bhutanese citizens themselves be emigrating
suddenly in such large numbers requiring the government to be the prepared with
printed forms?
2. ALL FORMS ARE IN DZONGKHA
This must be viewed in the light of the fact that even today all correspondence
between the population and the administration in the southern districts is done
in Nepali, or in rare cases, English. But, considering the import of the whole
issue of "emigration", one would assume that such
"voluntary" departures would proceed in a language that the
people would be able to follow. It is clearly not a case of chauvinism alone
which required that even the very brief form to be filled by those
"voluntarily" leaving the country be in Dzongkha, a language
that the respondent does not know. According to refugees from Chirang, some were
specifically misled by officials into believing that entering this form
indicated the respondent's desire to remain, and that it would thus entitle him
to stay; others were coerced into agreeing to fill in the forms after other
prominent villagers were torture into agreeing to leave the country. Regardless
of the manner in which the signature were extracted, the sequence thereafter
followed a pattern with the form letters and agreements being produced by the
district court on the basis of the filled in migration forms.
3. PRE-PRINTED LETTER NUMBERS, NAMES,
DESTINATIONS.
A further hint of the manipulative means applied by the government
is indicated by the fact that the forms have pre-printed addresses (To the
Chirang Dzongda), subject description (Subject: Regarding Persons Leaving
Bhutan) and even parts of letter numbers (Letter No.CDA/CENSUS......). That the
Chirang Court should be prepared with pre-printed forms which contain part of
the letter number of another office (letter No. CDA/CENSUS.......) indicating
Chirang Dzongkhag Administration, CENSUS file, clearly reflects overall
government supervision and control of the entire operation.
A still more sinister plot is unveiled in the
standard pre-printed Agreement which, besides containing the same letter number
referred above, also has the supposed destination of the alleged emigrant,
"Hariya, Jhapa" in Nepal. That the government should be in a position
to presume that all alleged emigrants will decide on the same final destination,
and accordingly enable the regime to be prepared with ready-made forms with this
location pre-printed in all the "Agreements", must surely indicate to
any impartial observer that there is nothing "voluntary" in the entire
affair.
4. EXTREME EFFICIENCY
For a government which still begs to be forgiven for not being able to count all
its citizens, the sheer speed with which the administrative machinery is able to
handle cases of "voluntary emigration" is nothing short of a miracle.
On the basis of a case filed with the court on behalf of the alleged emigrant by
the district administrator on 27/12/91, the entire process investigation, land
measurements, "compensation" etc. is completed and the Agreement
signed on 31/12/91; this in rural setting where delivery of every letter implies
a day's walk for the office messenger. That this has resulted in a number of
errors in the particular Agreement enclosed is only understandable (the House
Number is wrong during its second and third occurrence and the Thram (land deed)
Number is
wrongly located on both occasions).
"COMPENSATION" RECEIVED BY "EMIGRANTS"
The agreement prepared by the
government to acquire the property of 'emigrants' (see below) provides compensation
that is not in keeping with the government's
own approved rates. Moreover, besides land and house, cattle and other property
are not covered in the agreement. Furthermore, the
compensation form
takes immense pains to repeatedly have the seller express his
"willingness" to the deal, a fact which only serves to emphasize and
highlight the coercion and force that was applied on the individual to force him
to part with his property and, subsequently, his fundamental right to remain in
his own country.
AGREEMENT
FORM FOR ACQUISITION OF LAND FROM SOUTHERN BHUTANESE
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