A senior United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) official has said that 16-year-old Bhutanese refugee stalemate had reached into a crucial juncture and that all options needed to be kept open to find a durable solution to the problem.

United Nations Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees (Operations), Judy Cheng Hopkins, (center) speaking at a press conference in Kathmandu at the end of her four-day visit to Nepal, Saturday, July 22 06. nepalnews.com/rh

United Nations Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees (Operations), Judy Cheng…
Addressing a press conference in Kathmandu on Saturday at the conclusion of her three-day visit to Nepal, Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees, Judy Cheng-Hopkins, said some of the recent movement on the issue of refugee stalemate had made her optimistic.

Hopkins said that UNHCR was trying to get exit visas for 16 most vulnerable cases, including women and girls who were raped or were orphans. “They are really not in a state to spend their time in the camps without endangering their lives. We got the agreement of the Foreign Minister to grant exit visas after they have validated their cases to US and Canada,” she added.

The senior UNHCR official further said, “That is the first concrete thing that has happened in the last 16 years. Despite lots of bilateral talks, there hasn’t been a single repatriation. Even though, it’s just 16, it’s a very promising start. So, I am optimistic.”

Ms. Hopkins said Nepal government had now allowed doing a census in seven camps of Bhutanese refugees in the eastern Nepal. She said she hoped to work with Nepal government and donor countries for possible resettlement of the Bhutanese refugees.

When asked why the UNHCR was emphasizing on the option of resettlement only, Ms. Hopkins said whenever there is a refugee situation of this sort, UNHCR advocates for three possible durable solution: i) To go back home or repatriation of the refugees, ii) Resettlement (of the refugees) to a third country, and iii) Local integration in the host country.

The UN official said the government of Nepal remains with the stand that repatriation has to be the primary solution. “However, I believe the government of Nepal is willing to look at the alternative solutions, one of them being repatriation,” she added.

Ms. Hopkins said a new situation had emerged in Nepal with the new government according priority to the refugee issue. She said donor community was also interested to help solve this issue either be accepting people for resettlement or some of them saying that if some refugees are going to be reintegrated here in Nepal, they were willing to fund the programme. “I would rather hope that we start afresh with really serious intentions to resolve the situation,” she added.

Ms. Hopkins said she was very impressed by the knowledge of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister K P Sharma Oli on the range of issue he was dealing with. “He is a very intelligent man. For me, it’s a good first step.”

“Realising that after 16 years we are going nowhere, we have to be flexible now and look at various alternatives,” she added.

Responding to a query by Nepalnews about the role of India, Ms. Hopkins said India was going to be a very pivotal, major country to resolve this crisis. She said UNHCR was discussing with India at various levels and within SAARC so that the issue of Bhutanese refugee issue gets a priority in the Indian point of view.

Country representative of the UNHCR in Nepal, Abraham Abraham, said India saw the issue as a bilateral one. India is trying to maintain certain neutrality and doesn’t like to engage on matters that are discussed bilaterally, he said adding, “(India) has indicated that they will provide technical and other support when repatriation process starts.”

Responding to another query, Abraham said (the UNHCR) hoped that the new government of Nepal would pave way towards resumption of bilateral talks with Bhutan.

There have been fifteen round of bilateral talks between Bhutan and Nepal so far but to no avail. The last round of talks were held in October 2003.

When asked about the prospect of frustrated refugees taking up arms to further their cause, assistant high commissioner Judy Hopkins said it is in the interest of everybody to keep peace there (in the refugee camps). “If there are violent clashes within the camps, all three options available to us would be jeopradised. That’s why I have urged the refugees to be more patient,” she added.

Over 100,000 Nepali-speaking Bhutanese refugees are languishing in seven UNHCR-maintained camps in eastern Nepal for the last 16 years after they were allegedly evicted forcibly by the autocratic regime of King Jigme Singye Wangchuk of Bhutan in the late nineties.