US embassy cable - 04KATHMANDU74

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000074 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
LONDON FOR POL - GURNEY 
NSC FOR MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/08/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PREF, NP, SAARC, Bhutanese Refugees 
SUBJECT: NEPAL:  DE FACTO FOREIGN MINISTER ON SAARC SUMMIT, 
BHUTANESE REFUGEES, AND RELATIONS WITH EU 
 
REF: A. 03 KATHMANDU 2501 (NOTAL) 
     B. KATHMANDU 0055 (NOTAL) 
     C. 03 KATHMANDU 2491 (NOTAL) 
 
Classified By: AMB. MICHAEL E. MALINOWSKI.  REASON:  1.5 (B,D). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (C) In a January 9 meeting with the Ambassador, de facto 
Foreign Minister Amb. Bekh Bahadur Thapa discussed the SAARC 
Summit, recent problems in beginning the repatriation of 
Bhutanese refugees, and a possible EU demarche criticizing 
the Government of Nepal's (GON) failure to restore peace and 
democracy.  Thapa said he believes the presence of smaller 
countries at the SAARC Summit provided welcome "space" that 
helped Pakistan and India move forward on bilateral issues. 
Following the December 22 melee at a Bhutanese refugee camp 
(Ref A), Thapa said he would seek written confirmation from 
the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGOB) of its earlier oral 
commitment to provide a conducive environment for repaptiated 
Bhutanese refugees.  He is considering traveling to Brussels 
to discuss GON relations with the EU, following indications 
that EU governments may deliver a joint demarche chastising 
the GON for the continuing hiatus in multi-party democracy. 
End summary. 
 
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SAARC:  SMALLER COUNTRIES PROVIDE "SPACE" 
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2.  (C) Ambassador-at-Large and de facto Foreign Minister 
Bekh Bahadur Thapa opened a January 9 meeting with the 
Ambassador by expressing satisfaction that the recently 
concluded SAARC Summit helped provide a vehicle for improved 
communication between India and Pakistan.  SAARC's regional 
context made it easier for the two neighbors to meet, Thapa 
said, while the presence of the smaller South Asian nations 
gave the two regional giants some welcome "space" in which to 
begin addressing their bilateral issues.  At one particularly 
difficult point during the bilateral discussion at the 
Summit, Thapa said the Indian and Pakistani Foreign Ministers 
invited him in, in his capacity as Ministerial Chair of the 
Summit.  He felt both India and Pakistan wanted the 
facilitation and mediating presence of other countries to 
give these initial discussions a regional blessing or gloss. 
The successful Summit has made the future scenario for SAARC 
much brighter, he concluded. 
 
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BHUTANESE REFUGEES:  PICKING UP THE PIECES 
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3.  (C) Following the December 22 melee at Khudunabari 
refugee camp (Ref A), Thapa said he did not know what to 
expect from the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGOB).  (Note: 
Upon being told that certain categories of refugees could 
have only one employed member per family and that certain 
others would be held in police custody apart from their 
families, disgruntled refugees began pelting RGOB 
representatives with stones.  The RGOB representatives left 
Nepal almost immediately, and further efforts toward 
repatriation remain stalled.  End note.)  Government of Nepal 
(GON) representatives on the Joint Verification Team at the 
camp that day had the impression that the RGOB 
representatives were deliberately trying to discourage the 
refugees from returning to Bhutan, Thapa reported.  He 
speculated that the RGOB might use the incident as a pretext 
to discontinue repatriation efforts.  Nonetheless, "one more 
time we will give the benefit of the doubt" that the RGOB is 
sincere in trying to resolve the refugee problem, Thapa 
continued.  In previous bilateral discussions on the issue, 
the RGOB had given the GON verbal commitments that it would 
create a conducive environment for repatriation, i.e., 
promising that refugees would be given full social benefits, 
including employment opportunities, and would not face 
open-ended confinement to transition camps.  The conditions 
described by RGOB representatives to the refugees on December 
22 were "pretty contrary to those claims," Thapa observed. 
The GON will now request that the RGOB articulate in writing 
its earlier oral commitments.  Nepali MFA representatives 
will also talk with the refugees, urging them not to resort 
to violence in the future to express their frustrations. 
4.  (C)  Thapa added that he had recently received a letter 
from Jean-Marie Fakhouri, UNHCR Director for Asia, informing 
the GON that it will be difficult for the UNHCR to support 
repatriation without being permitted more direct involvement 
in the process. Thapa emphasized that the GON has always 
supported third-party involvement and monitoring of the 
repatriation process, but had been forced by the RGOB's 
consistent opposition to UNHCR involvement to agree to 
exclude the organization. 
 
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EU "DISCOMFORT" AT POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS 
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5.  (C) Thapa reported that the Irish Ambassador (resident in 
New Delhi) had called on him earlier in the week to 
communicate EU "discomfort" at recent political developments 
in Nepal.  Thapa said that the Ambassador made an oblique 
reference to a possible joint demarche by EU Chiefs of 
Mission to the GON, the political parties, and, indirectly, 
to the Maoists.  According to Thapa, the Irish Ambassador 
indicated that EU governments believe that King Gyanendra's 
attempt to reconcile with the political parties (Ref B) will 
fail.  Thapa said he felt his own sense of discomfort that EU 
governments had apparently prejudged the outcome of the 
King's initiative before it had even started.  Noting that he 
was considering traveling to Brussels to lay out the GON's 
case, he asked Ambassador Malinowski if he had heard similar 
comments from his European counterparts in Kathmandu.  The 
Ambassador said he had heard indirectly that at least one 
government may propose postponing the upcoming donor 
conference because of human rights concerns and the absence 
of a democratically elected government.  He lamented that 
some European governments were quick to condemn the GON, but 
were comparatively silent on Maoist abuses.  He noted that 
Maoist leader Prachanda had told Madhav Nepal, General 
Secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist 
 
SIPDIS 
Leninist (UML), in a November 20 meeting in India that the 
Maoists perceive the Europeans and Scandinavians as 
"sympathetic" to the insurgency (Ref C). 
 
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COMMENT 
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6.  (C) While the King's initiative may well fail for a 
variety of reasons, our discussions with political party 
leaders (Ref B) indicate that most are still weighing the 
King's gesture, with some--like Madhav Nepal and Pashupati 
Rana--attempting to frame at least part of the consensus the 
King requested.  If Amb. Thapa's description of the EU 
position is correct, we consider it unfortunate that our 
European colleagues have apparently decided to make up the 
parties' minds for them and condemn this effort before it has 
a chance to succeed.  This is the first time that we have 
heard a GON official at any level question so bluntly the 
RGOB's sincerity in resolving the refugee issue.  The GON's 
unwillingness to rely any longer solely on the "good faith" 
and verbal representations of the RGOB about repatriation may 
prove a substantial stumbling block to further bilateral 
progress on this matter. 
MALINOWSKI