US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU287

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000287 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SA/INS 
LONDON FOR POL/ERIEDEL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/14/2008 
TAGS: PREF, PREL, EAID, NP, Bhutanese Refugees 
SUBJECT: BHUTANESE REFUGEES:  GON HOLDS DONOR'S MEETING, 
OFFERING INSIGHT INTO GON/GOB AGREEMENT 
 
REF: A. A. KATHMANDU 228 
     B. B. KATHMANDU 170 
     C. C. STATE 16356 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Michael E. Malinowski for reasons 1.5 (d). 
 
Summary 
======= 
 
1.  (SBU) On February 13, Nepal's Secretary of Foreign 
Affairs briefed international donors on the agreement reached 
between Nepal and Bhutan on verification of Bhutanese 
refugees.  The Government of Nepal (GoN) and participating 
donors were openly skeptical of the agreement, pointing out 
the lack of technical detail and a timeline.  Nepal has asked 
for continued pressure on Bhutan to make good on its 
commitments.  End summary. 
 
The Minstry of Foreign Affairs Holds Donor Meeting 
============================================= ===== 
 
2.  (U) On Febraury 13, Nepal's Secretary of Foreign Affairs, 
Madhu Raman Acharya, briefed donors on the agreement between 
the Government of Bhutan (GoB) and GoN reached last week. 
Also present and participating was outgoing Joint Secretary 
for South Asia Gyan Chandra Acharya. Representatives from the 
European Union, European donors, Australia, Japan, and the 
U.S. were present, with India notably absent.  Secretary 
Acharya confirmed that the GoN and GoB had harmonized 
positions on the four categories of refugees (Ref A).  The 
GoN provided some valuable additional detail on the 
agreement, including GoN's opinion of the result. 
 
The Agreement 
============= 
 
3.  (C) Secretary Acharya hailed the GoN/GoB agreement as a 
breakthrough.  He emphasized the fact the agreement was put 
into writing and signed by government representatives.  When 
questioned, the Secretary declined to share a copy of the 
agreement unless the GoB assented or there is a breach of its 
terms.  (Comment: Subsequently, the DCM learned from the 
German Ambassador that the Secretary would be willing to 
provide a copy in private.  End comment.)  During the GoB/GoN 
ministerial-level discussions, the parties established 
guidelines on documentation and established assurances that 
families would not be separated during the categorization 
process. However, when donors pressed for details, Acharya 
could provide very little substance. 
 
4.  (C) After the Secretary's brief statement, donors 
questioned the need for four categories, in light of the 
GoB's commitment to accept all those willing to return who 
were Bhutanese.  Joint Secretary Acharya replied that in 
accepting Bhutan's four categories, the GoN provided Bhutan 
with a face-saving measure--allowing the GoB to place more 
refugees into the voluntary category rather than the 
forcefully expatriated category.  Donors confirmed that the 
agreement did not address the restitution of property or 
compensation to repatriated refugees.  When the GoN was 
confronted with the real possibility that this might affect 
refugees' willingness to return, the Secretary stated that 
the position of the GoN will depend on the numbers of 
Bhutanese unwilling to return. 
 
Timeline 
======== 
 
5.  (SBU) No timeline for repatriation was established in the 
agreement, although Secretary Acharya hopes that refugees 
will begin to leave the camps by the second half of this 
year.  The parties agreed to deploy the Joint Verification 
Team (JVT) to Bhutan on Febraury 24 to review the 
verification documents of the Khundunabari Camp.  Secretary 
Acharya anticipates 3-4 weeks for the team to complete 
categorization based on the documents.  He confirmed that an 
additional ministerial meeting will be held in Thimpu on 
March 24 to address any issues and move forward on 
repatriating the first camp.  The Secretary sees no reason 
why additional camps could not be verified during initial 
repatriation, although this point was not part of the 
agreement. 
 
GoN and Donor Skepticism 
======================== 
 
6.  (C) The Secretary and Joint Secretary demonstrated 
obvious skepticism on the prospects for Bhutanese 
repatriation.  Secretary Acharya bordered on the undiplomatic 
in stating, "An agreement with Bhutan that is not in writing 
is not an agreement."  He also expects frustration on all 
sides with likely delays in implementation.  Participating 
donors echoed the GoN's doubt.  The Secretary echoed the 
Foreign Minister's comment that the GoN will measure 
Bhutanese sincerity by the results of the Joint Verification 
Team--how many does Bhutan ultimately take back (Ref B). 
Acharya requested the international community to continue to 
encourage (rephrased to "pressure" in private) Bhutan to turn 
deeds into actions. 
 
Comment 
======= 
 
7.  (C) The agreement, while a notable step, lacks sufficient 
detail to provide complete assurance of Bhutan's intentions. 
Donors' questions were met with ambiguous replies by the 
Secretary, who placed much emphasis on the March 24 
 
SIPDIS 
ministerial to resolve any remaining problems.  The efforts 
of the international community to encourage Bhutan to follow 
through could well be critical to the ultimate resettlement 
of the over 100,000 refugees.  The upcoming conference in 
Geneva would provide an exceptional opportunity for donors to 
pin the GoB down on specific timelines, conditions, and 
compensation (Ref C). 
MALINOWSKI