US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU90

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000090 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
LONDON FOR POL/REIDEL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF, PGOV, NP, IN, Bhutanese Refugees 
SUBJECT: NEPALIS LAUNCH PRIVATE EFFORT TO SOLVE BHUTANESE 
REFUGEE CRISIS 
 
1. Summary:  A team of distinguished Nepali former diplomats 
and former officials met with Ambassador Malinowski on 
January 17 to encourage US support for efforts to repatriate 
Bhutanese refugees residing in seven camps in Eastern Nepal. 
The delegation recently returned from a trip to New Delhi, 
where they held similar meetings with the Ambassadors of 
Bhutan's donor countries, hoping to encourage international 
involvement.  Concerned that a failure to resolve the crisis 
could result in radicalization of the refugee population and 
aggravated regional instability, the group called for 
increased pressure on the governments of Nepal and Bhutan, 
and requested US assistance in convincing India to take a 
more active role in the process of resolution. End summary. 
 
2. In a January 17 meeting with Ambassador, representatives 
of the Bhutanese Refugee Repatriation Support Group, Nepal 
(BRRSG) encouraged US support for increasing pressure on 
Bhutan to resolve the protracted refugee crisis that has 
confined 100,000 Bhutanese to UNHCR-administered camps in 
Nepal for thirteen years.  Citing a lack of employment 
opportunities and a lack of facilities for higher education 
as the causes, the five-member delegation reported increasing 
frustration and anger among the youth of the refugee 
community--some of whom have lived their entire lives in the 
camps.  The group warned that the lack of progress toward a 
solution "may cause problems" not just for Nepal and Bhutan, 
but for India and other neighboring countries, and called on 
the USG to help convince the Indian government to take a more 
active role in settling the issue. 
 
3. Boasting an impressive membership of distinguished Nepali, 
including former Foreign Minister Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya, 
former Foreign Secretary and former Ambassador to the 
European Union Kedra Bhakta Shrestha, former Foreign 
Secretary and former Secretary General of SAARC Yadav Kant 
 
SIPDIS 
Silwal, and former Ambassador to the United Nations Dr. Jay 
Raj Acharya, the BRRSG's stated goal is "to repatriate all 
Bhutanese refugees to Bhutan with full dignity, safety and 
honor."  The group intends to "mobilize national and 
international public opinion to solve the Bhutanese  refugee 
problem as soon as possible." 
 
4. Toward that end, a delegation from the BRRSG recently 
returned from a trip to New Delhi, where they met with the 
diplomatic missions of Canada, Austria, Switzerland and the 
Netherlands, seeking to enlist the assistance of those 
countries in finding a swift and equitable solution to the 
refugee crisis.  They characterized their reception as very 
positive, and were encouraged by what they saw as the 
willingness of the international community to take a hand in 
resolving the situation.  In Kathmandu, in addition to their 
meeting with Ambassador Malinowski and an earlier meeting 
with the British Ambassador, the group plans to meet with the 
Danish, Norwegian and German Embassies, and the resident EU 
representative.  According to press reports, the team is 
urging governments with foreign assistance programs in Bhutan 
to withhold their aid if the Bhutanese government continues 
to delay a solution to the problem. 
 
5. Comment:  Efforts to find a resolution to the Bhutanese 
refugee crisis are welcome, especially when they are made by 
as distinguished and reasonable a group as the members of the 
BRRSG.  From a humanitarian standpoint, the continued impasse 
on this issue is lamentable.  More pragmatically, increasing 
impatience with the repatriation process, together with a 
lack of opportunities for employment and education, have 
created an environment in the camps conducive to homegrown 
radicalism, and ripe for recruitment by the Maoists. 
Bilateral efforts to resolve the problem have remained 
stalled for too long.  This private initiative by the BRRSG, 
in which well-respected Nepalis are seeking to 
internationalize the issue and to engage the efforts of 
countries with foreign aid programs or other influence in 
Bhutan, is a positive new approach. 
MALINOWSKI