Editorial»
When hopes turn to dust
JAN 14 - The process of verification, which dragged on for several years and which finally resumed recently, seems to be nothing more than eye-washing techniques of the Bhutanese government, if we see their recent ‘conditions’ and surprise desertion of the JVT office without even informing the Nepalese officials. Bhutan appeared to be serious in repatriating refugees during the 15th round of JVT meeting held in Thimphu but its recent ‘conditions’ on refugees and the subsequent desertion of the JVT office in Jhapa, after being stoned by its own people, shows that it is only beating around the bush, as it did in the past. Under the conditions laid down by Bhutan’s JVT officials, not even a handful of refugees of Khudunabari camp will be able to return home in February, let alone thousands in other camps.
This is because Bhutan’s refugees feel uncertain to return home under the perpetual threat even though it is a huge challenge for refugees to eke out living in other countries that seem to hold little space for them. For many refugees, it may never be safe to return to their country without the guarantee of security. For whatever reasons, Bhutan’s refugees fear some kind of retribution. Life in Bhutan appears uncertain for young couple and children. Refugees do not rule out exploitation and alienation at the hands of Bhutan’s absolute government. Many are not sure whether they would reach their destination or not, let alone settle down in their own homes in dignity and begin a new life. It is unknown whether the UNHCR would send out convoys to drop the refugees and establish its office in Bhutan to oversee humanitarian and human rights problems that looms large in the wake of repatriation.
It is also unknown how friendly the Indian borders would be, which had allowed the refugees to swiftly cross over on their way to Nepal in 1990. Now, with the Indian government having every chance to favour Bhutan for flushing out its militants, Bhutanese refugees, who have been looked down with contempt and disregard by India, will find their country not much welcoming as it had been before. Houses that the refugees left behind were burnt to ashes and the lands they tilled for years have been distributed to Drukpas and those loyal to the monarchy. It is meaningless to return without a full guarantee that they would obtain back their lands and houses.
Jobs are uncertain and scarce for a refugee to claim in a country like Bhutan, which relies mostly on donors for labour and money, while keeping its own citizens as refugees in a foreign land. Many of Bhutan’s refugees fled home in early 1990, after Bhutan evicted them forcefully alleging them to be migrants from Nepal. They came to Nepal in 1990 not with bundles of worldly goods and large sum of money but simply with clothes on their backs. They had some papers such as land tax receipts as their citizenship cards were snatched away by the government authority as they fled. This was done to leave the refugees without any proof of nationality so that Bhutan need not take them back. Now that the government of Bhutan has exhibited its real intention not to take back refugees, it is again uncertain when they will eventually return to their villages and resume their work to build their homes and, above all, lead a life free from fear.
Many southern Bhutan’s Nepali-origin people suffer from limited chances to enrol their children in school and they have limited chances to work in projects and use the state’s resources. But, as the refugees narrate their nostalgic past, they say they were the first to open roads in Bhutan, which lifted Bhutan from darkness and helped usher in an era of modernity in that country.
Bhutan’s government must be able to tap their potentiality and energy to work, which is now seriously hampered by the national law that makes “No Objection Certificate” or police clearance mandatory when applying for jobs, businesses and schooling of their children. It must create space for the participation of minorities such as Lhotsampas and Sarchops in the administration to reduce the feeling of alienation. Bhutan must allow free movement and freedom to its people to organise themselves as trade unions, human rights and other social groups. There must be freedom for social contacts and social mobility, which is so far restricted in Bhutan.
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