US embassy cable - 05GENEVA2483

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 GENEVA 002483 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USUN FOR MALY; BRUSSELS FOR MEZNAR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/03/2010 
TAGS: PREF, NP, PHUM, BT, PREL, UNHCR 
SUBJECT: UNHCR EXCOM #4:  PURSUING AN OPPORTUNITY FOR 
PROGRESS ON BHUTANESE REFUGEES IN NEPAL 
 
REF: GENEVA 2465 
 
Classified By: RMA Counselor Piper Campbell; reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1.  (C)  Summary:  Acting PRM A/S Greene pressed Bhutanese 
and Nepalese officials to agree to a comprehensive solution 
to the problem of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal, during October 
3-7 meetings on the margins of UNHCR's annual ExCom. 
Nepalese PermRep Acharya asserted a "lack of urgency" on the 
part of Bhutan and said that voluntary repatriation "must 
form the basis" of any agreement, but also welcomed U.S. 
involvement and agreed refugee registration is an appropriate 
first step.  Bhutanese Permrep Rabgye expressed concern over 
Maoist infiltration of the camps, but said Bhutan is 
committed to working out an implementation schedule for 
return of refugees in categories one and four, as agreed by 
the foreign ministers of Bhutan and Nepal earlier this fall 
at the UN General Assembly.   UNHCR Asia Director Lim sees an 
opportunity for a breakthrough and will intensify efforts to 
conduct registration and put together a resettlement package. 
 The Norwegians and Danes want to work to ensure that 
resettlement countries provide political impetus, as well as 
resettlement commitments, to drive this forward.  Indian 
PermRep Puri credited recent progress to (in part) new 
thinking at UNHCR and offered India's help in persuading 
Bhutan to cooperate.  End Summary 
 
2.  (SBU)  On the margins of the October 3-7 annual meeting 
of the UNHCR Executive Committee (ExCom), Acting Assistant 
Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM) 
 
SIPDIS 
Richard Greene met with a number of delegations as well as 
UNHCR officials concerning efforts to devise a comprehensive 
solution for Bhutanese refugees in Nepal.  All parties 
acknowledge that such a solution will include returns to 
Bhutan, local integration, and a major third country 
resettlement operation, although differences over the 
relative proportions remain.  Ambassador Moley participated 
in several of the meetings, as did various Mission members. 
 
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UNHCR Sees Opportunity, Will Intensify Efforts 
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3.  (C)  During an October 3 meeting with UNHCR's Director 
for Asia Janet Lim (other subjects reported septel), Acting 
A/S Greene urged UNHCR to redouble its efforts to gain 
Nepalese approval to perform refugee registrations and to 
assemble a large resettlement offer from interested 
governments.  Lim responded that she too sees an opportunity 
for a breakthrough, although she said governments would have 
to maintain political pressure on Nepal and Bhutan.  She 
plans to travel to Katmandu and hopefully Thimphu soon, and 
has spoken with the local Norwegian Mission, which -- as 
incoming chair of the Working Group on Resettlement (WGR) -- 
will champion the issue with other resettlement states.  Lim 
said UNHCR would quietly intensify its efforts to identify 
the most vulnerable Bhutanese refugees, and utilize this 
initial resettlement to build confidence for a more 
comprehensive agreement. 
 
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Pressing Nepal to Seize the Momentum 
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4.  (C)  Greene and Ambassador Moley met with Nepalese 
PermRep Gyan Chandra Acharya October 3, calling on Nepal to 
seize the momentum generated by Bhutan's acceptance of 
category one and four returns from at least one camp.  Greene 
said the U.S. considers Bhutan's offer to be "a start, not an 
end," and that we will continue to press for Bhutanese 
cooperation.  He cautioned, however, that any "grand bargain" 
would not consist solely of returns to Bhutan, but would 
include local integration and third country resettlement.  A 
positive step could be resettlement from the camps of the 
most vulnerable individuals now.  Greene told Acharya that we 
expect UNHCR to conduct a registration of refugees in Nepal, 
as they do as a matter of policy everywhere they work in 
order to better understand refugee demographics and ensure 
proper management of assistance.  Ambassador Moley reviewed 
recent diplomacy on this issue and, saying "we have to start 
some place," asserted the time to move forward to a 
comprehensive agreement is now. 
 
5.  (C)  Acharya said Nepal welcomes U.S. involvement.  While 
he had no direct report on the meeting in New York on the 
margins of the UN General Assembly between the Nepalese and 
Bhutanese Foreign Ministers, Acharya complained of the lack 
of progress in bilateral talks, blaming a "lack of urgency" 
on the Bhutanese side.  He said Nepal is concerned that the 
talks not result in "half-measures," and stated that 
voluntary repatriation "must form the basis" of any 
comprehensive solution.  He said Nepalese officials are not 
opposed to refugee registration but had concerns that a 
registration would be a prelude to local integration only. 
Having had this misperception clarified by UNHCR, Acharya 
said Nepal now should "in principal have no objections" to a 
registration.  Greene emphasized that any returns to Bhutan 
must be voluntary and suggested there is a role for local 
integration and resettlement.  Saying there are probably some 
"non-Bhutanese," possibly stateless persons, in the refugee 
camps, Acharya admitted "the responsibility is ours" and did 
not rule out the possibility of limited local integration. 
 
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Norwegian and Danish Resettlement Initiatives 
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6.  (C)  At their request, Greene met with the Norwegian and 
Danish delegations to ExCom to discuss the Nepal/Bhutan 
issue.  (Comment:  Both countries are jockeying for a lead 
diplomatic role, with the Danes trying to launch a 
coordinated EU effort and the Norwegians trying to ensure 
that the focus of diplomacy is the Geneva-based WGR, which 
they chair.  End Comment.)  Greene began the meeting by 
welcoming the Danish and Norwegian initiatives and stressing 
the importance of coordinating various diplomatic activities. 
 He said the U.S. strongly supports UNHCR's request to 
register Bhutanese in the refugee camps, despite some 
Nepalese reservations the process will lead to a UNHCR 
recommendation that the refugees be locally integrated. 
Danish MFA Deputy Permanent Secretary Kim Lunding said 
Denmark is prepared to work within the EU to encourage 
resettlement offers from non-traditional resettlement states 
(he made specific reference to new EU members) and undertook 
to prepare an EU position paper touching both on the 
registration issue and guidelines for a comprehensive 
solution.  (Draft e-mailed to PRM/MCE.)  Norway will make a 
parallel approach in the November 2 meeting of the WGR, which 
includes major resettlement states outside the EU such as the 
U.S., Canada, and Australia. 
 
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Indians Will Press Bhutan to Cooperate 
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7.  (C)  Indian PermRep Hardeep Singh Puri told Greene and 
Ambassador Moley on October 4 that UNHCR, and in particular 
former High Commissioner Lubbers, had been "part of the 
problem."  By discouraging the "bilateral track" in favor of 
a UNHCR-brokered multilateral agreement, UNHCR had delayed 
resolution of the issue, according to Puri.  Commenting that 
Bhutan would greatly appreciate efforts to resettle a large 
part of the caseload, Puri pledged that India would encourage 
Bhutan to be flexible. 
 
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Bhutan Cautious but Appreciates U.S. Involvement 
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8.  (C)  In an October 7 meeting with Bhutanese PermRep Sonam 
Rabgye, Greene noted with appreciation Bhutan's recent 
decision to allow category one and category four returns from 
one of the camps in Nepal.  He told Rabgye such a confidence 
building measure could facilitate a more comprehensive 
solution that would include refugee returns to Bhutan, local 
integration in Nepal, and third country resettlement.  As 
part of that package, he said, the U.S. is prepared to 
consider substantial numbers of resettlement cases.  Greene 
pressed Bhutan to seize the moment and look for opportunities 
to resolve the remaining outstanding issues. 
 
9.  (C)  Rabgye expressed appreciation for how hard former 
PRM A/S Dewey worked to obtain a comprehensive agreement.  He 
also credited a meeting in New York on the margins of the UN 
General Assembly between Bhutanese Foreign Minister Wangchuk 
and South Asia Bureau A/S Rocca with drawing out Bhutan's 
offer (which was accepted shortly afterward in a meeting 
between Wangchuk and his Nepali counterpart).  Rabgye said 
the two foreign ministers agreed to work out an 
implementation schedule and that "there is no need to 
reinvent the wheel."  Citing reports that some of the 
Nepalese refugee camps have been infiltrated by Maoist 
elements, Rabgye said Bhutan does not want to import 
"ready-made terrorists."  Rabgye concluded by noting that 
Bhutan is a less populated country with large neighbors and a 
substantial percentage of ethnic minorities already, and must 
take that into account when making decisions on this issue. 
Cassel