Living Out a Refugee Welcome

The situation in Southeast Nepal will become explosive if the Bhutanese refugees stay there much longer. Meanwhile, their leaders concentrate on running each other down..The screening camp set up by the Nepali Government at Kakarbhitta. Nepal´s gateway in the eastern Tarai, is hot and tense. Dhanamaya Chauhan, a middle-aged woman in a dirty dhoti, is pleading with an official and pointing to hercousin Bishnumaya, sitting in a corner with an infant in her arms..She asks the official, "How can you sayourevidcnceisnotgoodenough?Wehave come from Bhutan, we are refugees.".Dhanamaya´s family are among the hundred or so families that have so far been denied refugee status since the Nepali Government began screening the arrivals from Bhutan in early 1993. "Bayan milena" . they are told: you are not a refugee..The flood of Nepali-speaking Lhotshampa from southern Bhutan, which reached its highest mark a year ago, is now down to a trickle. On average, 1992 saw 300-400 refugee arriving daily by truck at Kakarbhitta. The 1993 average thus far is down to about 90 a day, and the rate is much lower for May and June..There are different views as to why this downwards trend. Pashupati Karmacharya-, who heads the Nepali Home Ministry´s Operation Management and lmplementary Unit (OMIU), which has the task of monitoring refugee affairs in Jhapa, believes that the word about tightened procedures in Kakarbhitta has spread to southern Bhutan. Says Karmacharya, "We conduct detailed interviews and do not register those that cannot prove that they have been persecuted.".While the screening seems lo have had an impact in the short term by affecting the ´pull factor´, the overall trend seems to have been influenced by a scaling down of repress ion wi thin Bhu tan, wh ich has been the ´push factor´..Says an official with the UnitedNations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), "When persecution has increased in one or the other districts of Bhutan, we have seen an immediate rise in number o f arri v als. The intema ti onal pressure on Bhutan has intensified, and we see the direct result of that in reduced numbers.".While the reduced arrival rate is a matter for relief for the Home Ministry and UNHCR, it leaves unresolved the issue of the 84,100 refugees in the seven camps of Jhapa and Morang, and of their repatriation. Quite apart from the complicated questions that the recently announced joint Nepal-Bhutan bilateral commission will have to resolve in order lo identify Bhutanese nationals who are ´eligible´ to return, there are major problems with regard to the management of the camps, therelations with the local population, and the vexing question of refugee politics..Jhapa CocktailThe most immediate problem for the Nepali authorities is the social instability that the refugee influx is bringing to the south-eastern corner of Nepal. Says one district official, "Jhapa District has in its hands a cocktail mix of a thousand problems." Even after three years, life in the refugee camps is not yet ´normal´ for the residents. P.R.Dahal, a planner with the Agriculture Ministry back in Bhutan, leftGelegphug in 1991 and is now a Timat camp resident. SaysDahal, "The first year, it was very difficult topass the day. We spent hours and hours just walking the banks of the Mai Khola and the Timai." Maybe four percent of the camp population h a s some thing to do: the few are engaged with the relief agencies, in camp management, or in politics. For the rest, the Jhapa days drag on and on, which is why one sees camp residents washing hands more often than they need to, sweeping their huts even when there is no dirt, walking the river banks, or engaging in idle talk in the bazaars along the East-West Highway. Says Rudra Prasad Khatiwada of Goldhap camp, "One just gets tired by not having anything to do.1´ Because of the inactivity, tension is always just below the surface. A strongly worded 15-point notice pasted all over the refugee camps indicates that UNHCR and the Government´s Chief District Officer do not mean to let things get out of hand. The rules restrict the inmates from leavingcamp without permission, keeping livestock, playing caTds, or drinking liquor. Outsiders are not allowed in. However, a Visitor finds that every patch of dry grass is occupied by card-players, while the road to the Beldangi camps is lined with raksi shops. "We have destroyed 2500 litres of raksi, but it is impossible to control," says a supervisor in Beldangi II..Envy the RefugeeIn 1991, when Nepal was still high on adrenalin after its successful Peoples Movement, the first refugees were welcomed by the local population of Jhapa. As the refugee numbers swelled, however, a chill developed in the relationship and there is today undeclared enmity between the refugees and the Jhapalis..Interestingly, because Jhapa is also populated by recent migrants from the Nepali hills, the demographic cross-section of the refugees in the camps and the Jhapali population outside is nearly identical. This might partially explain why the resentment about the support being received by the refugees is as intense as it is. A UNHCR field officer concedes that the tension between the locals and refugees exists in all the camps, and that it is more pronounced in Pathari camp because of its proximity to the bazaars..Says a trader inDamak bazaar, "There are more residents in Beldangi than the entire population of our town. Anything can happen anytime." Gopal Prasad Bhandari, Deputy Superintendent of Police of Morang, says, "The refugees have not understood that it is in their interests to remain within the camps. The local inhabitants ask why they should be penah´sedforhavmgbeenkindtotherefugees.".It is the poorest of Jhapa´s and Morang´s population who are most affected, because the refugees have pulled the bottom out of the labour market, Daily wage rates have crashed because refugees are willing to work very cheap. "They eat in the camps and come here to break rocks, andgobackfor their evening meals. We have to survive on this wark,"saysLokBahadurChhetri,afather-of-three who lives in a shack by the Dans Khola..Refugees from Pathari camp travel 25 km by local bus to Bahuni village to engage in farm labour. They work as sand shovclers on the Jirikhimti Khola or break rock (gittf) on the Dans Khola, supplying Biratnagar town´s demand of building materials. The daily wages are down from NRs 40 a year ago to NRs 25 today. While the landlords, contractors and sahus of Nepal´s southeast are taking full advantage of the basement price for labour, the local poor are reeling..The presence of refugees has caused havoc with bazaar prices as well. From the relief agencies, the each camp resident, regardless of age, receives rationed quantities of rice, vegetable, sugar, oil and kerosene. Whilesmall refugee families manage to scrape by, larger families withmany children generate quite a surplus..Because of the glut in the market, prices have come crashing. In the bazaars, rice that is NRs 12 per kilo elsewhere is available for NRs 7 or 8, and sugar of NRs 18 per kilo can be had for NRs 12. At the same time, the cash liquidity in the camps has raised the price of other commodities in the bazaars..Many hill migrants of Nepal who live in the vicinity of the camps eye the refugee ´lifestyle* with envy and some have infiltrated. During a recent refugee count, 1222 camp families suddenly disappeared..UNHCR´s Field Officer in Damak, William Bell says that the agency has realised die need to provide services to the population surrounding the camps. It has initiated discussions to connect the outlying communities by road, provide them with healthcare, wateT supply, and promote reforestation..But the locals wilt not be receiving the rice, cooking oil and greens, the bamboos,clean drinking water, the sanitation facilities, or the tarpaulin sheets, which means that the resentment will stilJ be there..Cats and DogsThe Lhotshampas are guests in Jhapa and Morang. How long these refugees will remain depends upon factors far from the teeming camps, in the meeting rooms of Kathmandu, Thimphu and New Delhi. There is a Tole in all this for the refugee leadership, but study reveals that refugee leaders are easily diverted by inter-personal feuds. It remains to be seen whether the decision by Nepal and Bhutan to finally set up a joint commission to study repatriation will have the effect of uniting, or further dividing, the leaders..At this time, there are three parties in ´opposition´ to the Government in Thimphu. These are the Bhutan Peoples Party (BPP), the Bhutan National Democratic Party (BNDP) and the Bhutan Congress Party (BCP). They do not talk to each other. The inter-party animus also affects the other ´non-political´ refugee organisations such as the Peoples Forum for Human Rights (PFHR) – tilted towards the BPP, the Human R ights Organisation of Bhutan (HUROB) – inclined towards BNDP, the Association of Human Rights Activists (AHURA)andStudentsUnionofBhutan(SUB) – relatively independent.R.K.Budathoki, President of the BPP since its establishment in June 1990, dismisses BCP with a wave of the hand, "We do not recognise those who turn to politics because it is a fashion." He is willing to concede the BNDP´s existence, but considers it a "bureaucrats* party", and adds, "They are all opportunists, well-to-do from Bhutan who hope always to direct affairs from above.".The BPP says it espouses democratic-socialism, but it is apparent that Marxists dominate the party. The party has its vehement critics, who say it espouses militancy and that it has a leadership vacuum — other than Budathoki, the party post have high turnover..BNDP was inaugurated in February 1992, in New Delhi, by bureaucrat refugees who understood India´s importance in resolving the Lhotshampas´ problem. However, the party´s lobbying in New Delhi has not met with much success. Its manifesto speaks of "mutually-beneficial capitalism" as its credo, which places it opposite the table from the BPP..BNDP has few workers in the camps. ItsPresident R.B.Basnet, who says, "We tried very hard to adjust into the BPP, but the BPP Wt3warenotverythoughtful."AsfortneBCP: "It is anew party anddoes not have a manifesto or constitution yet.".Established in April 1993, the BCP seems to be agathering of individuals who just outgrew the BPP and its lack of coherent programmes, "The other parties have no moral standing," maintains President D.B. Sangpang, who lives in a Beldangi..Is there any hope for a reconciliation among the parties? "Yes,"saysBCP´sGeneral Secretary R.P.Subba, "We will play a mediator´s role in bringing the parties together." But the party´s Vice-President Rakesh Chhetri says the BPP´s "militancy" and "lawless ways" are the main obstacle to inter-party unity..The General Secretary of the BPP is Tenzing Zangpo (Pasang) — he is a Sarchop from eastern Bhutan, an exception among the refugees, who are overwhelmingly Lhotshampas. He becomes suddenly animated when asked why BPP does not unite with the others: "Of course, we want unity, but you go and ask those who say we have to wait 50 years for unity!"Pasang is referring to BNDP´s General SecretaryD.N.S.Dhakal whose view BPP with deep suspicion. "When BPP calls for unity, it is to enhance its power. When we call for unity, it is for the movement. Perhaps we will be forced lo unite if in the course of Nepal-Bhutan talks we are asked to present a joint view of the refugee demands.""The parties quarrel with each other and use us when it serves Iheir purpose," says a refugee who has started a business in Birtamod, the Jhapa town that acts as a hub for the surrounding refugee camps. "BPP is badly organised and lawless, and often terrorises the camps residents. TheBNDPsupports thestatus quo back in Bhutan and lacks credibility."The animus between the various political factions has occasionally led to bloodshed in the camps. Last year, a melee between BNDP and BPP workers in Beldangi took the life of a BNDP member, while in April a BPP worker Jost his life.Lift a FingerEchoing the words of Nepal´s B.P.Koirala, BCP hopes to "to promote return of refugees through national reconciliation with King Jigme Singye Wangchuk and thereafter to work for political stability iri Bhutan",Grand words, but rio party has at present a coherent programme. Besides the obvious disunity, there is also paucity of political direction and staying power, and little or no organising in the camps. Other than fuming against each other, the leaders actually do very little. For obvious reasons, it has been impossible topoliticise the population within Bhutan, or to tap possible discontent among Drukpas and Sarchopas.It was a year ago that the BPP announced a pro gramme for satyagraha within Bhutan. It still calls press conferences in Kathmandu and in order to announce the imminent start the peaceful protest. The otheT parties do not evengo the distance of the BPP, however, prefer to remain as far removed from activism and slippery political terrain as possible.The reluctance to soil hands also has a bearing on the question of militancy against Bhutan, While some have warned that frustration among the youths in thecamps will lead to infiltration and eruption of militant violence against the Bhutanesc regime, the lack of politicisation in the camps indicates that this is not about to happen..BPP is the one party in which some factions encourage militancy. However, the sporadic infiltrations have not succeeded in alarming the Thimphu government and only handeditapropaganda advantage. Since much of the violence within Bhutan seems to be the work of apolitical vandals, there is negative public relations impact for the refugee organisations..SaysBhimSubba,aseniorcivil servant who is affiliated with HUROB, "Only those who totally misread the reality of therefugees´ situation would go around espousing militancy,".Human Rights, Democracy Rtidrabahadur Khatjwada, a headman {mandat) in Khorsane in Bhutan´s ChiTang district, says, "We do hope to return, but god knows when that will be.".Actually, with Nepal-Bhutan talks in the offing, there is heightened expectations in the camps about prospects for repatriation. The standard demand of the refugee organisations has been for human rights and democracy, but it is clear that, at best, this issue can be raised by the refugees once they are back in Bhutan. The Kathmandu Government can only seek to ensure that a maximum number of refugees are taken back..The refugee leadership is extremely anxious about the forthcoming negotiations, both in termsof who will be allowed to leturn and what will be the conditions inBhu tan after they return. On the one hand is a Bhutan which will make every effort to keep the repatriated numbers to a minimum. On the other hand is a Nepal which feels morally bound to keep the refugees but is tiring of acting as host, and also worried of political problems in its sensitive southeast..Some refugees express worry about Kathmandu´s position and intentions. Says SUB´s Biswa Nath Chhetri, "The Nepali Government seems to have forgotten about the ´return with dignity´ clause," referring to the Kathmandu´s official stand on therefugecs´ return. Says another leader, "When Nepal speaks of the return ´with dignity´, we read that as recognition of our demands for democratic reforms.".BCP´s Rakesh Chhetri: "We have patience to wait for democracy in Bhutaa But it seems that in some quarters the patience to host us refugees is running out,".Settling DownActually, the patience seems to be in short supply among a segment of the refugee population as well. They have decided that if they cannot return home, or have to wait interminably long for that, they might as well strike roots in Nepal..Many believe that Home Ministry Dago Tshering has no intention to allow back more than a trickle. Despite their attachment to their Bhutanese homesteads, orange orchards, and other properties, a number of refugees have begun to prepare for a "post-Bhutan life" outside of the camps. Says P. R. Dahal, "I have teft behind lakhs worth of property, and even my school certificates. How can one forget such things? Tarn kay game?".The longer the Lhotshampas stay on in Nepal, the more ´Nepali´ they become. Each camp has already seen dozens of marriages with ´outsiders´. While the refugee educators are trying their best to follow the Bhutanese system, the fact that they teach Nepali (which has been banned in Bhutan since 1985) using textbooks from the Nepal´s curricula means that the children are becoming ´Nepalised´..But perhaps the most significant indicatorof the developing refugee mindset is seen in the citizenship rolls kept by Home Ministry. According to ahigh ranking Ministry official, about five thousand refugees now havedual citizenship. Since theaverage family size is six, it is likely, therefore, that 30,000 refugees have the possibility of becoming Nepaii citizens. Says the Home Ministry official, "Wecannot distinguish between who is a Nepali and who is a Bhutanese Nepali, They look alike," Refugees have bought land, and even built houses, in Jhapa´s Charpane, BirLamod and Budhabare, and in Biratnagar town..While it is true that 66 percent of the refugees have Bhutanese citizenship certificates, and about 97 percent have some kind of documentary evidence to indicate Bhutanese citizenship, how long will they hold on to the vision of return? Says Keshav Acharya, a poet and journalist of Jhapa, "If the Tefugee problem is not resolved before the nextNepali general elections, twoyearshence, it will change the entire political, economic and social scenario of Morang and Jhapa.".G Guragain is a freelance journalist based in Kathmandu