UPDATE ON NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SESSION (Date: 28th June 2001)
Bhutan's 79th National Assembly session is starting from today the 28 June 2001 at Thimphu, the capital. It is to be attended by all the law-makers of the country, which in total, numbers 151. The bifurcation are - peoples' representatives 105; government representatives (appointed by the King) 33; central monk body 12 and business community 1. Of the total, there were 16 members (24%) of the full house from the south prior to 1990 southern crisis. Immediately after the 1990 problem the posts of two Royal Advisory Councilors have been replaced by other ethnics. As a result, presently there are only 14 members connoting that the southern representation has decreased from the previous of 24% to 21% despite the fact that consist around 43% of the total population.. 

The prevailing situation inside Bhutan reveals that the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGOB) is bent on reducing the number of Lhotsampa representation in the National Assembly, the highest law/policy making body in the country. Working on this, the RGOB is in the spree of inducting non-southern or non-Lhotsampa members who are recently resettled in the south under the ongoing resettlement program on lands belonging to the Bhutanese refugees exiled in eastern Nepal. Following this, the people in Samdrup Jongkhar, which was traditionally represented by the Lhotsampa is presently replaced by non-Lhotsampa member from among those resettled recently in the area. 

Not only this, even the "Mandals" or village headmen in the southern districts are being gradually replaced by the newcomers in the southern region. This trend in representation in all level would lead further erosion of the already weak representation and reflection of genuine southern grievances not only in the highest policy-making body but even in the grass-root level. Thereby further leading to remoteness between the Lhotsampas and the institution of the central seat of power in the country. Which was also the cause of the present crisis during the past. 

Therefore, Bhutanese Refugee Representative Repatriation Commiteee (BRRRC) a representative organization of the Bhutanese refugees would appeal the RGOB to review the whole gamut of implicating issues in question and implement corrective measures so as to redress the ongoing southern crisis in its true perspectives for the greater interest of the King, country and the people. Further, the BRRRC would expect that unlike in the past, the ongoing session of the august body would have positive deliberations on the issue of Bhutanese refugees, including increasing the pace of the ongoing verification exercise being carried out by the Bhutan-Nepal Joint Verification Team at Jhapa and take step for early repatriation on our original homesteads with safety, dignity and honour. 

Till today (60 days), 614 families consisting of 3835 individuals have been verified by the JVT. 


Visit of UNHCR Desk Officer for South Asia to JVT Office and Refugee Camps 17th May 2001
Ms. Kyoko Yonezu, UNHCR Desk Officer, Geneva for South Asia & Pacific, Incharge for Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka visited JVT office and the Refugee Camps in Jhapa, Nepal. On 13th May 2001 she visited Goldhap camp and had brief meeting with the Camp committee and she also visited the school and one hut. On 14th May 2001 she had a meeting with the agency representatives working in the refugee camps and had lunch with them at Damak, Jhapa. She also visited the Joint Verification Team (JVT) office and had talked with the Team Leaders on the verification process. In the afternoon she had a meeting with the three camp committee members of Beldangi camps at Beldangi-I Committee Hall. She was briefed by the Camp Secretaries on health, camp administration and on the ongoing verification process. One of the refugees, Mr. Shanti Ram Nepal strongly urged the UNHCR to closely monitor the verification exercise and take care of safety and security at the time of repatriation. Besides taking note of the refugee problem she also studied the problem faced by the locals within the periphery of the refugee camps and committed Nepali Rupees 29,00,000 through Refugee Affected Rehabilitation Programme (RARP) to help to build infrastructure in the affected area according to report of Refugee Coordinating Unit (RCU) to the Purbanchal news. Similarly Fuji Antical,a social organization from Japan has committed Nepali Rupees 32,00,000 through CARITAS Nepal for repairing and maintenance of local schools. 

On 17th May, she visited the Khudunabari camp where the current verification exercise of the refugees is going on. So far 381 families with 2345 individuals have completed their verification process. The Foreign Minister of Nepal has written a letter to the Foreign Minister of Bhutan on the need of holding 11th round of Joint Ministerial Level Committee (JMLC) Meeting in near future to discuss the mechanism to increase the ongoing verification process. It is expected that the meeting will take place soon and review the ongoing verification exercise and find other methods to expedite the process. Also in order to further improve the bilateral relation, exchange of delegations at various levels has been initiated by the two governments which is expected to boost good understanding at the people level and contribute to the resolution of the refugee problem. 

20-Apr-2001 -- EWTN News Brief 
CHRISTIANS TOLD TO LEAVE FAITH OR LEAVE BHUTAN
ROME, Apr. 20, 01 (CWNews.com/Fides) - Christians in Bhutan, who make up only 0.33 percent of the population, are facing some of the strongest opposition and persecution they have ever experienced, Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports. Fear is growing among believers. Bhutanese Christians are being told to either leave their religion or leave the tiny Asian country, located between India, Nepal, and China.

Bhutan, the only Buddhist kingdom in the world, has no written constitution or bill of rights. There is no legal guarantee of freedom of religion. Buddhism is the state religion and non-Buddhists suffer political and social discrimination. 70.1 percent of a population of 1,800,000, are Lamaistic Buddhists, 24 percent are Hindu, 5 percent Muslims, 0.6 percent animist, and 0.33 percent Christians, (of whom 500 are Catholics).

Persecution against Christians is now widespread and systematic, village by village. On Palm Sunday, April 8, Bhutanese authorities and police went to churches to register the names of believers. Many pastors were detained for interrogation and threatened with imprisonment. Other believers scattered for fear of being identified.

The campaign started last year when the government began sending official forms to government employees and private businesses demanding the Christians to sign agreements to comply with "rules and regulations governing the practice of religion." Penalties for practicing the Christian faith include no free education for children, no free medical facilities, no promotions, and no visas for travelling abroad, and other restrictions.

As one Bhutanese Christian says, "Very harsh persecution has started in Bhutan. Christians are asked either to leave their religion or leave the country. In some places they are beaten very badly. They are not allowed to gather anymore.... Freedom of religion has been taken away. Christians now face termination of employment, expulsion from the country, cancellation of trade licenses, and denial of all state benefits." 

The uncertainty of beginning of verification exercise is over after the announcement of beginning of verification exercise from Monday, 26th March 2001 starting from Khudunabari Camp. The Khudunabari camp is the latest among seven camps and is an open camp for new arrivals. The total population of the camp as of date is about 12500 with total number of 1963 families and with same number of huts. According to the report the family head has to fill up the form with questionnaires and another attached Performa by the individual above twenty-five years. It is not clear whether the attached Performa has to be again filled up by the head of the family termed as nucleus family as he/she also would be above twenty-five years. Also the real purpose of attached Performa to be filled up by individual above twenty-five years is not known as according to the census records of Royal Government of Bhutan all dependents are included under the head of the family irrespective of age. According to the information the families will be brought to the Joint Verification Office (JVT) at Damak to complete all the formalities of verification. However, the results of verification will be with held till all the camps are completed.

The residents of the camps are excited and are eager to see the work start immediately. Despite this, there is also wide scale skepticism among the refugees and the refugee leaderships about Bhutan's seriousness and sincerity in resolving the refugee problem. Bhutan's outright rejection of possibility of third party involvement and its declared position not to take back all the refugees has only aggravated their fear further. And without the involvement of the aggrieved party- the refugees- the issues that are so vital to the resolution of the problem is likely to go un addressed at all. However, whatever may be the intention or malice at the back of the mind, the refugees console, the process of verification has started and Bhutan, now can not backtrack from the responsibility. They feel it is an opportunity for both the governments and the refugees to reconcile and resolve the problem peacefully and permanently. 

To
HE. Kofi Annan
Secretary General
United Nations.
New York. U.S.A.
 
            Sub: Appeal for Resolution of Bhutanese Refugees problem.

Your Excellency’s visit to South Asia and particularly to Nepal at this juncture is very propitious moment especially to the Bhutanese refugees. Among many other issues in the region we are certain that the Bhutanese refugee problem is also one of concerns and your Excellency’s visit to Nepal is expected to give further impetus to expedite the resolution as early as possible. Your Excellency is aware that there are about 98000 Bhutanese refugees languishing in the seven camps in two districts in eastern Nepal for last ten years. The shelter and security is provided by His Majesty’s Government of Nepal (HMG-Nepal) and other camp management is looked after by United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) with the implementing partners. The import of visit of your Excellency is significant in context to the Bhutanese refugee verification by the Joint Verification Team (JVT) of the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGOB) and His Majesty’s Government of Nepal (HMG-Nepal) commencing within this month. We are anxiously waiting the beginning of the exercise and hope that it will be expedited without delay and utmost sincerity. Though Refugee representatives are not party to the verification but we are ready to extend help and co-operation to the team for smooth and peaceful verification and pave way for early repatriation. We feel that the involvement of UNHCR as third party in the verification is important to see that no Bhutanese are disenfranchised and international norms and laws are followed.

Your Excellency, the Bhutanese refugees are the victim of the arbitrary denial of the nationality and citizenship by the RGOB after enacting and implementing citizenship act 1985. Therefore, though we are optimistic in one hand but on the other hand is worrying that in the event of repatriation if our nationality and citizenship rights are protected by the same existing law. We would also like to apprise your Excellency that our problem is not the problem of ethnic, religion or arm conflicts. It is the evolution of the discriminatory policies of the RGOB particularly targeting Nepali speaking-Southern Bhutanese. There are many Acts like Citizenship Acts 1985, Marriage Acts, Land Acts, National Security Act 1992  which are not either compatible with International norms or with other principles of human rights. Under the same existing laws, there is great apprehension of insecurity and even more suppression after the repatriation. Therefore, it is paramount importance to amend the existing Acts and Laws of Bhutan to protect the rights and interests of the Bhutanese and create congenial atmosphere for repatriation.

It is our earnest plead that United Nations (UN) should monitor the development of verification and make sure that all the Bhutanese get their right to return to their original homesteads with safety, dignity and honour. The UN also should urge the RGOB to amend the existing laws and vacate the land belonging to the people now living in the camps already allocated to the Northern and Eastern Bhutanese to avoid complication on repatriation.

It is our profound hope that your Excellency would take back the memory of the plight of the Bhutanese refugees and help resolve it peacefully and permanently.
 

Thanking you.

Yours Faithfully
 
Chairman                                            Camp Secretary
BRRRC                                              Sanischare, Camp.
 
Camp Secretary                                 Camp Secretary
Beldangi I                                           Beldangi II
 
Camp Secretary                                 Camp Secretary
Beldangi II Extension.                        Goldhap
 
Camp Secretary                                 Camp Secretary
Timai                                                   Khudunabari
 

Nepal is the site of one of the world's most overlooked refugee dilemmas. Forced to flee Bhutan for Nepal and India in the early 90s,more than 90,000 people are now entering their tenth year of life in the refugee camps in Nepal. A whole generation of children has been born there. Many of the refugees, mostly ethnic Nepali Hindus who farmed the southern hills and plains of Bhutan, were arbitrarily stripped of their nationality prior to their expulsion from Bhutan in the early 1990s after changes to Bhutan's nationality laws that deliberately discriminated against the southern Bhutanese.

The refugees have been caught for nearly a decade in the middle of stalled negotiations to resolve their situation. No progress was made
until the tenth round of bilateral talks between the governments of Bhutan and Nepal in December 2000 when international pressure by the U.S. government, the E.U. and various European governments, the U.N.Commission on Human Rights and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees helped break the impasse between the two governments. 

During the December 2000 talks, Nepal and Bhutan agreed to commence a joint verification of the refugees in the camps in order to determine their nationality status, with a view to ultimate repatriation to Bhutan. The breakthrough in the talks, and the recent visit by the verification team appointed from both countries to the camps, has brought a renewed sense of hope to the refugees - whose only wish over the past ten years has been to return to their homeland, Bhutan.

While these new developments are promising, many concerns remain about the process of verification and repatriation. In light of reported pressure on refugee groups to refrain from activism, it is particularly important for international organizations, like UNHCR and international NGOs, to monitor the verification process and ensure that it is carried out in accordance with international standards and that the human rights of this group of tens of thousands of refugees are upheld.

The extremely complex questions of nationality and statelessness arising from this refugee situation, have led to fears that many refugees who were arbitrarily stripped of their nationality prior to their expulsion may be denied their legitimate right to return to Bhutan. Thus, UNHCR should be included in the process as an independent third party. There is also a pressing need for a more active UNHCR presence in the refugee camps in Nepal, both to disseminate information about the verification process in order to counter the many rumors and fears that are circulating in the camps, and to closely monitor the verification process itself.

On February 15 the following organizations wrote to the governments of Bhutan and Nepal expressing our concerns about the Bhutanese refugees.
A copy of the letter is below.

Human Rights Watch Lutheran World Federation Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children Refugees International Bhutanese Refugee Support Group

*****************************************************
February 15, 2001

Shri Chakra Prasad Bastola
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Nepal

Lyonpo Jigme Thinley
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Bhutan

Dear Minister,

Our organizations would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation to the governments of Nepal and Bhutan for your
willingness to move forward in the search for a durable solution to the long-standing Bhutanese refugee crisis. Many of the over 90,000
refugees are entering their tenth year of life in exile in Nepal, and the agreement by both the governments of Nepal and Bhutan to initiate a
joint verification with a view to repatriation to Bhutan has brought the refugees a renewed sense of hope and optimism.

While we recognize the significant progress that has thus far been made, we nevertheless share some critical concerns about the process and procedures for the joint verification. These include the absence of an independent third party to monitor and oversee the verification and repatriation process; the lack of clarity regarding the documentation required for the verification; the absence of any independent appeal process; and provisions for refugees to be accompanied to their verification interview if necessary.

We understand that the Terms of Reference agreed to by both parties make no reference to an independent monitoring or referral body, and that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has not been given an active role in monitoring and facilitating the verification and repatriation process, as is the norm in most refugee situations worldwide.

We strongly urge the governments of Nepal and Bhutan to rethink their decision not to formally involve UNHCR and to request the agency to take a more formal role in monitoring and facilitating the verification, repatriation and reintegration process, possibly as part of a tripartite commission including both governments. This not only will give the process more credibility but it will ensure that the verification and repatriation conform to international standards. There are other reasons for involving UNHCR:

 .The joint verification team could greatly benefit from UNHCR's expertise in screening for and implementing voluntary repatriation
programs worldwide.
· UNHCR could serve as a referral point in the event of any disagreement or difficulty that arises during the verification
· UNHCR could play a critical role in the dissemination of information about the verification procedures and in general public awareness
raising in the refugee camps.
· UNHCR has developed useful guidelines and standards for voluntary repatriation that both governments could follow, such as those contained in the 1996 UNHCR Handbook on Voluntary Repatriation as well as various Conclusions of UNHCR's Executive Committee (ExCom) in 1974, 1980, and 1985 respectively.

We would be grateful for clarification on several other aspects of the joint verification process. It is unclear what documentation the refugees are required to produce as proof of prior residence in and/ or citizenship of Bhutan. We urge both governments to clarify and make public the list of accepted documentation for verification to avoid confusion and uncertainty amongst the refugees.

We also hope that you will ensure that there is an opportunity for refugees to be accompanied to their verification interview by a family
member or representative from a non-governmental organization working in the camps. This is particularly the case for vulnerable groups, such as unaccompanied minors, single women, the elderly, and the physically and mentally disabled.

Finally, we understand that the current Terms of Reference do not include any provisions for an independent appeal process for refugees who may wish to challenge the final decision of the verification. We strongly urge both governments to consider establishing an independent appeal mechanism to deal with contested decisions. This may be a role that UNHCR, or another international organization or body, could usefully play.

Once again our organizations would like to express our appreciation to both of your governments for your willingness to move forward in finding a durable solution for the Bhutanese refugees. We hope that you will consider our recommendations and concerns seriously with a view to ensuring that the verification is carried out in a transparent and fair manner and no refugee is denied their legitimate right to return to Bhutan.

As international NGOs we will be monitoring the verification process closely. We look forward to hearing your responses to our concerns, and would like to reiterate our continuing support for your efforts to seek a solution to this long-standing refugee crisis.

Yours sincerely,

Human Rights Watch
Lutheran World Federation
Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children
Refugees International
Bhutanese Refugee Support Group

The residents of the district of Samdrupjongkhar are directly feeling the burnt from the presence of Indian militant groups in Bhutan and the consequences thereof. The Nanglam Cement Project and the subdivision of Nanglam are virtually under seize since the incident in December last year. It is also reported that the King has ordered to close the town of Samdrupjongkhar and move it elsewhere following increased activities of the militant groups. The members of United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) and Bodo Security Force, the two main armed extremist outfits from India with bases inside Bhutan have increased their activities and are prowling openly in the area. It has become increasingly difficult for the local residents to lead a normal life. They cannot rear cattle for domestic and commercial purpose. They are constantly harassed by their own government and by the Indian government for their alleged help to the militants. But the locals have very little choice and neither Bhutan nor India, seem concerned about their plight. On 27th Jan a group of 45 ULFA militants walked from Panbang and came to Surey. On the way they got a ride on a PPCL (Indian Company working on transmission line from Gaylephug to Samdrupjongkhar) vehicle. Later, the driver of the PPCL vehicle was severely beaten by Royal Bhutan police for entertaining the militants. Following increased pressure from Indian and Bhutanese army, the militants are trying to relocate their base further deep into the remote and inaccessible Black Mountain region. Due to the fear of militants using government and other company or private owned vehicles for transportation of food and other supplies, no vehicles are allowed to ply between Gaylephug and Bumthang and in adjacent area. This has disrupted the normal life in the whole region.

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