Bhutanese Refugees Await Their Fate

They are of ethnic Nepalese origin but were born in Bhutan but. When trouble flared up in the early 1990s, they were stripped of their citizenship and deported from the tiny Himalayan kingdom for being non-nationals.

Since then, they have been living in camps set up by the UN in the Jhapa district of eastern Nepal. As Bhutan prepares for its first democratic elections in 2008, many refugees are trying desperately to return.

Their so-called home is adjacent to India's Darjeeling district in West Bengal and their only means of returning is by crossing the India-Nepal border. However, clashes with the Indian security forces which have left one refugee dead and over a dozen injured are not helping their cause.

Deteriorating conditions

Meanwhile, the conditions in the camps have deteriorated over the past decade. The Bhutanese professor Ratan Gazmere, forced into exile in 1992, said that the health and education services in particular had been "drastically reduced".

"Many people are dying now because they don’t get medical assistance in time, especially old people because the help there is seems to focus on young people," Gazmere complained.

And while the UNHCR provided higher education at the start, this was abolished after a few years. Young refugees now only have access to primary and secondary-level education.

Headache for Bengal

The refugee matter is turning out to be a real headache for the Left Front government in West Bengal which borders Nepal. The Bengal government has admitted that it's worried. Last week, the chief secretary of the state, Amit Kiran Deb, held a meeting with Darjeeling district officials to discuss the situation.

The Bhutanese refugees are trapped in a vicious diplomatic quandary. "We want unconditional passage via India to return to our country," explained Balram Paudel, the vice-chairman of the National Front for Democracy in Bhutan.

"The Indian government should try and resolve the issue through talks, otherwise our protests will continue," he warned.

US plan

In April, the United States announced it had come to an agreement with Nepal’s government to resettle 60,000 Bhutanese refugees.

The plan has divided the refugee community living in the UN-run camps in Nepal and last month’s violence was sparked by disagreement over the issue.

Some want to go to a third country, others insist they should be given the right to return to Bhutan.

Path to democracy

Bhutan is one of the world’s most isolated countries and the government strictly regulates all influence from abroad, including tourism, to preserve the country’s Buddhist culture.

Last month, a second "mock election" was staged as a dress rehearsal for the isolated Himalayan kingdom’s transition to democracy next year after a century of royal rule.

But it remains to be seen whether many Bhutanese refugees are able to participate. Until a solution is reached, the Bhutanese refugees seem doomed to live in the UN camps.