It was great to learn from local Nepalese media that 37 Bhutanese refugees had flown to the UK on Aug. 9 to be resettled. Some of the older ones among them had waited for 20 years for this while those younger than 20 were born in refugee camps in Nepal and have lived there all their lives.

The government of Bhutan is trying to convince its donor countries to resettle as many of the more than 77,000 people as possible who are now living in Nepal’s refugee camps.

Bhutan has always been cautious about using the term “refugees.” Even when the Prime Minister of Bhutan came to Nepal in March, he used the term “people living in the camps.”

Ever since their expulsion from Bhutan, these refugees have been living in seven camps in eastern Nepal, which are administered by the Nepal government and assisted by UNHCR and its partner NGOs, including Jesuit Refugee Service and Caritas Nepal.

The refugees’ existence here has entered its 20th year. Their seemingly endless stay in the camps has impacted them, the host community and donor countries.

The resettlement process that is going on now in Nepal might be considered the smoothest in recent refugee history.

Young Bhutanese attending   a meeting in a refugee camp,   organized by the Jesuit Refugee    Service

However, those countries accepting the refugees should demand from the Bhutan government that it repatriate those who want to return home.

If these countries do not do so, it could be regarded in the future as a failure of rendering justice to the refugees.

The Nepal government should also be requested to accept local integration of refugees who choose to remain in Nepal.

The 15 rounds of ministerial-level talks between the two governments, the UNHCR’s negotiations, and the various diplomatic interventions of donor countries have failed to resolve the issue of repatriation.

The Bhutan government has continued to affirm that the “people in the camps” were “voluntarily migrated.” It has closed its doors to any repatriation of refugees, including for those who have been verified as bona fide Bhutan citizens.

The two other alternatives are local integration and resettlement. As Nepal had gone through a decade of insurgency and as the political situation is still in turmoil, local integration is unlikely.

Of the 107,000 Bhutan refugees at the end of 2007, the US agreed to take 60,000; Australia and Canada 5,000 each; New Zealand, Norway, the Netherlands and Denmark about 500 each; and the UK about 120.

The resettlement process commenced in October 2007 and is jointly carried out by UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration.

The UNHCR is looking for other countries to take in more refugees from Nepal. If these are not forthcoming, it is expected that about 30,000 refugees will remain in Nepal at the end of the resettlement phase.

Chirendra Satyal is a ucanews.com reporter based in Kathmandu

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