Mr.
David B. Thronson of Harvard Law School, USA , who was intern
at the INHURED International wrote the following report on
"Cultural Cleansing" in Bhutan. The report was published
by the INHURED International, Kathmandu, Nepal in August,
1993
A
Distinct National Identity and the Refugees from Southern Bhutan
By Mr. David B. Thronson
Introduction
Exile
in Nepal
Demographic,
Diaspora and Greater Nepal
Southern
Bhutan Today
Nationality,
The Core Issue
The
Camps
Ambiguities
and First Census
Categorisation
& Diplomatic Time Line
Driglan
Namza, Language & Green Belt Policy
Nationality
Laws of Bhutan
No
Objection Certificates
Bhutan
Marriage Act
Protest,
Mass Arrests & Torture
Introduction
In 1959, one year after nationality was
extended to the Nepali-speaking population of southern Bhutan,
the National Assembly noted that these new citizens had
pledged "to think like all other Bhutanese citizens, and to
adhere to the same culture and traditions." Over thirty years
later this pledge is taken quite literally. In 1989, the King
of Bhutan told the National Assembly that "in a large country,
such [cultural] diversity would have added colour and
character to its national heritage without effecting national
security. However, in a small country like ours it would
effect the growth of social harmony and unity among the
people." result of this fear of diversity is the 'One Nation,
One People' policy through which the government stresses the
need for a "distinct national identity". Yet Bhutan does not
envision forging this distinct identity to encompass the
existing diversity of the nation's cultures. The chosen
national identity is that of the politically dominant Drukpa
culture of northwestern Bhutan.
Though culture and ethnicity are integrally
linked, this is not a situation of "ethnic cleansing" but
rather "cultural cleansing". The perceived threat to national
identity stems more from cultural traditions than the
individuals who practice them. Bhutan has made concerted
efforts to integrate or assimilate the ethnically Nepali
southern Bhutanese population into the Drukpa culture. But
culture is a difficult thing to legislate or change, and many
of the southern Bhutanese treasure their cultural heritage as
much as the Drukpas of the north treasure theirs. Failure to
convert the southern Bhutanese has been followed by efforts to
remove them.
It is
partially fears about their own culture's survival that the
northern Bhutanese forward to justify the steps taken to
impose Drukpa culture on southern Bhutan. But the real issue
may be less about the continued survival of their culture than
about continued dominance of their culture. Ironically, the
harmony that the King fears would be disrupted by diversity
was to a large extent present between the peoples of Bhutan
before the crisis began. The question now is whether this
harmony can be achieved again.
In 1985
Bhutan
passed a revision of its existing citizenship laws, in
practice limiting the grant of citizenship to those who could
prove residence since before December 31, 1958. In 1988, the
new law was implemented through a census conducted only in the
southern districts of Bhutan, inhabited primarily by ethnic
Nepalis. In April 1988, TekNathRizal, a southern Bhutanese
member of the Royal Advisory Council, submitted a petition to
the king questioning the implementation of the stricter 1985
citizenship law and calling attention to allegations of
discrimination, threats, coercion, and confiscation of
identity cards during the implementation of census. This
petition was declared seditious against tsa-wa-sum, the three
elements of King, Country, and People. Rizal was removed from
office and detained for three days. He later fled to Nepal
As the
census continued, a decree from the king required all citizens
to observe the driglam namzha, a code of conduct and dress
based on the Drukpa culture of western Bhutan. Teaching of
Nepali language was dropped from the schools of Bhutan, and
strict marriage laws imposed heavy burdens on anyone marrying
a foreigner. A short lived plan to create a "green belt" along
the southern border threatened the eviction of thousands of
southern Bhutanese. Rizal and a small group of dissidents
formed the Peoples Forum for Human Rights (PFHR) to address
the human tights situation in Bhutan. Beginning in October
1989, a number of dissidents were arrested, including Rizal,
who was abducted from Nepal and returned to Bhutan. The
protests within Bhutan grew and the Bhutan Peoples Party (BPP)
was formed in June, 1990. Mass rallies were organized in
September and October, 1990 and resulted in violent conflict
between the dissidents and the authorities, followed by mass
arrests.
Throughout
1991 and 1992, refugees fleeing Bhutan described mass arrests,
torture in custody, and the ongoing denial of Bhutanese
citizenship to many southern Bhutanese through the census. 'No
Objection Certificates' were required for enrollment in higher
education, sale of some cash crops, and employment with the
government. During this period the government of Bhutan
presented a much different story, reporting violence and
terrorism in southern Bhutan and framing the situation as a
struggle for national identity in the face of demographic
threats from illegal immigrants. UNHCR was invited by the
government of Nepal to provide relief in August, 1991.
The flow of
southern Bhutanese across the open borders into India and
Nepal started as a trickle and peaked in early 1992 with a
flow of about I 0,000 people per month entering Nepal. The
flow has slowed considerably now, but still continues. New
arrivals report continuing human rights violations, though on
a smaller scale than in past years. UNHCR's May/June 1993
Situation Report lists 84,245 people registered in the camps
in southeastern Nepal. It is estimated there are another
10,000-15,000 living the outside the camps in Nepal and India.
In May 1993, the government of Nepal and UNHCR instituted a
tighter screening process at the border utilizing
international standards.
The growth
in refugee population has been accompanied by a growth of
human rights and political organizations among the refugees,
creating more rivalry than cooperation. This fragmentation and
politicization, coupled with generally improved conditions in
the camps, has increased unrest among the refugees,
particularly among youth with little else to keep them
occupied. Tensions between refugees and the local population
are gradually increasing.
"Quiet
diplomacy" by the governments of Nepal and Bhutan has finally
resulted in the agreement to establish a bilateral commission
to address the situation. This commission is not yet formed
has so far. Its intended purpose is limited to determining the
different categories of people claiming to have come from
Bhutan in the refugee camps of eastern Nepal.
Demographics,
Diaspora and Greater Nepal
The
disparity between Bhutan's recently downsized total population
estimate of 600,000 and the more precise yet presumably less
accurate 1990 figure of 1,461,853 demonstrates the level of
speculation which creeps into any discussion of demographics
in Bhutan. [1] Yet demographic forces and fears lie near the
heart of events in
Bhutan.
Refugees make demographic arguments to support their
longstanding roots in Bhutan and their legal claims to
Bhutanese citizenship. The government of Bhutan counters with
allegations of illegal immigration which threatens Bhutan's
"survival as a distinct political and cultural entity" and "impose[s]
a state of demographic siege on Bhutan." [2] The open borders
between Bhutan and India, and India and Nepal, historically
have created easy movements of people and difficult
determinations of nationality throughout the region.
The
demographic battle has two primary fronts. First, within
Bhutan the government argues that many of the ethnic Nepalis
or their ancestors in Bhutan arrived after 1961 to work on
development projects and do not meet the 1958 cutoff for
citizenship established by Bhutan's 1985 Nationality Law.
Second, outside Bhutan the government justifies the need for
the current immigration crackdown citing "the relentless tide
of the Nepali diaspora" [3] waiting for an opportune moment to
invade Bhutan. At times this anticipated invasion is portrayed
as the demographic pressure of people seeking better living
conditions, but often it is described as a plot for the
establishment of a "Greater Nepal" or a Nepali dominated
Bhutan.
Under any
interpretation, the southern Bhutanese population is a major
part of the demographic equation of Bhutan. Bhutanese Foreign
Minister Dawa Tsering stated that one-third [4] of the
country's population is of Nepalese origin while some refugee
groups claim figures as high as 53%. [5] The government of
Bhutan has not released any census data, and other potential
indicators, such as the civil service composition of 39%
southern Bhutanese in 1990, [6] perhaps suggest that the true
figure is somewhere in between. Estimates of the Ngalong
population display similarly divergent ranges, from refugee
estimates of 16% [7] to an official figure of 28%. [8]
In supporting
their positions, both sides have resorted to historical
arguments concerning the early presence of ethnic Nepalis in
Bhutan.
Refugees place "the first batch of Nepali settlers... as far
back as 1624 A.D." [9] while the government "state[s]
emphatically that no Nepalese ever crossed beyond the Teesta
River until after 1865, let alone penetrate [sic] into
Bhutan." [10] The resolution of this historical argument has
little relevance to the average resident of the camps in
Nepal. The issue of early Nepali settlement is important,
however, in analyzing the current population. Few dispute that
in, or around, 1898 the Dorji family was granted permission to
settle immigrants in southern Bhutan and in 1932 a British
army officer reported 60,000 Nepali-speaking inhabitants in
south west Bhutan. [11] Nepalis came legally as laborers to
clear forests in Samchi and the cleared - land was parcelled
off to workers. [12] According to the government, only in the
early 1950s did settlement spread from southwestern Samchi and
Chirang to the Sarbhang, Geylegphug and Samdrupjhongkhar
areas, and in 1958 the National Assembly passed its first
Nationality Act, granting citizenship to these settlers. [13]
Most southern Bhutanese in the refugee camps claim to have
settled before 1958 or trace their ancestry to those early
settlers to derive claims to citizenship. The government
charges that many of the southern Bhutanese came after the
first five-year development plan in 1961 when: ... faced by a
shortage of manpower to construct roads and implement
development programmes, the government employed baidars (labour
contractors) to import tens of thousands of labourers from
Nepal. Almost three decades passed before the Royal Government
became aware of the presence of illegal immigrants. By then
substantial numbers of them had already mingled and merged
with the local population in southern Nepal. [14]
According to
the government, "..this influx was a case of outright illegal
immigration over a porous and open border" and was "undetected
by the government until the census carried out in 1988." [15]
Whether invited as potential future citizens simply as migrant
laborers, ethnic Nepalis clearly were actively recruited and
welcomed to Bhutan. The government's claim of thirty years of
ignorance concerning their presence must be met with
skepticism. Many of the workers were granted land [16] and the
1958 Nationality Act allowed for the naturalization of
landowners after ten years of residence. The issue of
integrating the growing southern population frequently was
discussed in the National Assembly, such as the 51st Session
of the National Assembly in 1979 where debates included the
appropriateness of using the Nepali language in the Assembly,
southern Bhutanese attitudes towards driglam namzha and
national dress, incentives for intermarriages between ethnic
Nepalis and Drukpas, and the issuance of identification cards
to Bhutanese citizens. [17] Additionally, citizenship and
marriage laws were debated repeatedly long before they were
revised in 1977, 1980 and 1985 and a national census was
conducted in 1981 followed by the issuance of citizenship
cards. The Deputy Minister of Home Affairs reported to the
National Assembly that "according to an assessment in
September, 1987 there was [sic] over one lakh [ 1 00,000]
non-nationals in the country." [18]
The picture is
not one of a sudden realization, thirty years after the fact,
that Bhutan was inhabited by a large number of illegal ethnic
Nepalis, but rather a scenario of escalating concern over the
failure to integrate this portion of the population into the
politically dominant Drukpa culture. Writing in 1977, Leo Rose
noted that the Bhutanese government "populated the area of
Bhutan most susceptible to rapid economic development and to
ideological penetration from India with a community that had
not been integrated, either socially or politically, into the
broader Bhutanese society." [19] The progression of
citizenship laws, the policies on driglam namzha and language,
and especially the events since 1988 reflect a growing
assimilationist, and failing that exclusionist, mood.
While
minimizing estimates of the ethnic Nepalis legally settled in
southern Bhutan, the government repeatedly raises the spectre
of "another 10 million Nepalis living in India, many of them
across Bhutan's immediate southern border... look[ing] towards
Bhutan
as an economic haven." [20 ] The 1981 census of India reports
1,252,444 speakers of Nepali, although this did not include
Assam, which had 353,673 Nepali speakers in 1971. [21]
While
conceding this census figure may be low and a decade behind,
it seems an estimate of ten million is clearly exaggerated,
and certainly not all of these are looking towards Bhutan.
Even crusaders for the inclusion of the Nepali language as an
official language of India held their likely inflated
projections to five or six million [22], including Nepalis
settled in distant central, west and south India. Still,
whatever estimate is reasonable, the Nepali population in
India is substantial compared to that of relatively under
populated Bhutan, and the fears expressed by Bhutan merit
consideration.
The least
credible of the fears Bhutan expresses is that of a "Greater
Nepal" or "Pan Nepal" stretching across the Himalayas which
Foreign Minister Dawa Tsering identified as a "motivating
factor" of immigration to Bhutan. [23] Under this theory,
unnamed forces seek to unify the entire Himalayan region into
one state with a dominant Nepali culture. The conflicting
politics of the region make the likelihood of a unifying force
seeking to exploit a consciously guided, politically motivated
migration highly unlikely. [24]
Comparisons
with Sikkim are more apt and an Indian Adviser to Bhutan's
King in the 1960s later wrote that the "Bhutanese have seen
how, in neighbouring Sikkim, the original inhabitants have
been gradually outnumbered by Nepalese immigrants, and are
determined to stop the process in their own country before it
assumes unmanageable proportions."[25] The government of
Bhutan
echoes this thought, stating that "the southern Bhutan problem
is neither a movement for democracy nor an issue concerning
human rights. It is simply an attempt by an ethnic community
to turn themselves into a majority through illegal immigration
in order to take over political power."[26] Crediting to this
assertion raises problems similar to that of the "Greater
Nepal" concept in terms of identifying leadership with the
ability to influence and exploit long term patterns of
migration. Further, while democratic reforms in Bhutan would
likely lead to a weakening of consolidated Drukpa power, the
timing of events indicates that the human rights activism and
politicization of the southern Bhutanese were more a reaction
to increasing pressure to assimilate than a proactive power
grab.
Yet to argue
that generations of migration were not politically
orchestrated is not to argue that demographic forces do not
pose a serious threat to the traditional society of northern
Bhutan. The Bhutanese: "saw Sikkim lose its sovereignty and
become a Nepali dominated state in India 17 years ago, watched
apprehensively as Darjeeling erupted into anarchy and violence
in a Nepali-led struggle for political autonomy during the
late 1980s, and can hardly have been unaware of the Democracy
Movement which reduced the status of Nepal's King Birendra to
that of a constitutional monarch in 1990 ... " [27] Leaving
aside the perceived spectre of ten million Nepalis waiting at
the border, with the growing internal Nepali population it is
understandable that the Drukpa elite of Bhutan to feel some
trepidation for their continued privileged position.
Numbers alone,
however, can give a misleading impression of pressures on the
various cultures of Bhutan since "[s]ettlement by Nepali
Bhutanese in areas outside of southern Bhutan, while not
specifically forbidden, in fact is still effectively
discouraged." [28] Each of the three main ethnic groups of
Bhutan live in geographically separate areas and maintain
distinct cultural patterns, and recent attempts at integration
have been largely ineffective. The rare visitor to southern
Bhutan would certainly not get a strong taste of Drukpa
culture, and most visitors to Bhutan, who are restricted to
the north, remain unaware even of the existence of a distinct
culture in southern Bhutan. Perhaps because of this geographic
separation, and the fact that southern Bhutanese for the most
part settled in previously uninhabited areas, the relations
between the ethnic groups have been uncharacteristically
positive on a subcontinent tom by communal conflicts. The
flight of refugees is integrally linked to ethnicity, yet not
charged with racial animosity. The issue is more of cultural
assimilation than ethnic extermination. Bhutan is not an Asian
Yugoslavia or Somalia where popular ethnic conflict bubbles
openly to the surface. Policy decisions which have resulted in
the present situation are largely centralized, and there is
room for reconciliation between the peoples of Bhutan.
Unfortunately, as time goes by, positions harden in reaction
to propaganda and opportunities for negotiation may fade.
Nationality, The
Core Issue
Questions of nationality and methods
employed to determine citizenship form a backdrop for all
other issues and events in southern
Bhutan.
Bhutan's first attempt to define its citizenship came with the
Nationality Law of Bhutan in 1958. This act was updated in
1977 and again in 1985 (all of these acts are reproduced in
full in Appendix 1). The government attributes great
significance to these laws as "all that stands between
overwhelming demographic pressures and the survival of the
Bhutanese people as a distinct political and cultural entity."
[29] Surely these laws are important, but the texts of the law
are relevant only to the extent they influence implementation.
The variance with which Bhutan has interpreted and applied
nationality policies makes practical political realities
outweigh the niceties of legal analysis. Still, since attempts
to implement these laws are an integral part of the crisis, an
understanding of the migration from southern Bhutan is not
possible without some review of the laws. Although such a
review of the laws raises more questions than answers, it is
also necessary since the laws provide part of the framework
for political decisions which may determine the fate of the
refugees.
Acquiring
Citizenship, as Written
The 1958 law states "any person can
become a Bhutanese national" and provides three avenues.
First, through a father who was a Bhutanese national at the
time of the child's birth. Second, through a petition to an
official appointed by the King if the applicant had been
resident in
Bhutan for
more than ten years and owned agricultural land (or served
satisfactorily in Government service for at least five years).
Third, a woman married to a Bhutanese national could petition
the official to be enrolled as a Bhutanese national. The last
two of these three methods required an oath of loyalty.
Growing cultural concerns are reflected in the 1977 act which
added the requirements of knowledge of the Bhutanese language
and Bhutanese history, and increased the residency
requirements to 15 years for government servants and 20 years
for all others. The act specified the loyalty oath in more
detail, including reference to the three elements of King,
Country and People, or tsa-wa-sum. Foreigners married to
Bhutanese were not considered citizens, but had to apply as
other foreigners, removing the third category of the 1958 law.
Children of mixed marriages became citizens only if the father
was a citizen.
The 1985 act
provides for citizenship by birth, by registration, or by
naturalization. A person whose parents are both citizens of
Bhutan
is a citizen of Bhutan by birth. A person permanently
domiciled in
Bhutan
on or before 31st December, 1958, and whose name is registered
in the census register maintained by the Ministry of Home
Affairs is a citizen of Bhutan by registration. Eligibility
for naturalization requires residence of 15 years for
government employees and those with one citizen parent, and 20
years for others, with this period of residence registered in
the records of the Department of Immigration and Census.
Naturalization also requires proficiency in spoken and written
Dzongkha and a good knowledge of the culture, customs,
traditions and history of Bhutan. Applicants must have no
record of having spoken or acted against the King, Country or
People in any manner whatsoever, and must take an oath of
allegiance. The government reserves the right to reject
applications for naturalization without assigning any reason.
The laws of
Bhutan and its neighbors do not form a seamless web and the
combination creates vast potential for statelessness. For one
simple example, Nepali citizenship by descent comes through
the father, as was the case in Bhutan's laws until 1985. [30]
Now that Bhutan requires both parents to be Bhutanese, the
children of Bhutanese fathers and Nepali mothers are
apparently citizens of neither state.
Losing
Citizenship Under Bhutanese Laws:
A Prescription for Statelessness
By the 1958 law, a person could lose citizenship by becoming a
national of a foreign country, renouncing Bhutanese
nationality, leaving agricultural land to live outside the
kingdom, or engaging in activities or speaking against the
King or the people of Bhutan. Citizenship obtained through
presentation of false information could be cancelled, as could
citizenship granted to someone who was imprisoned for more
than one year within five years of the grant. The 1977 law
limits comment to revocation of citizenship based on acts or
speech against the King or government, or presenting false
information when applying. The 1985 law is only slightly
different from its predecessor, terminating the citizenship of
anyone acquiring the citizenship of another country, acquiring
citizenship through fraud, or showing disloyalty by act or
speech in any manner whatsoever to the King, Country and
People of Bhutan. It adds that children who leave the country
without the knowledge of the government lose citizenship even
if both parents are Bhutanese, and spouses and children of
someone acquiring another citizenship may retain their own
Bhutanese citizenship.
The provisions
of the later act prevail over conflicting earlier provisions,
but the status of uncontradicted provisions is unclear. For
example, the 1958 provision for losing citizenship for the
abandonment of agricultural land is never repeated but never
expressly overturned and presumably it survives as law. These
laws have great potential for creating statelessness. Under
these laws, dissidents accused of anti-national activity can
be stripped of citizenship, but that certainly does not
obligate other states to grant citizenship. Similarly, if the
1958 clause stripping citizenship from all those who abandon
agricultural land is literally applied, without consideration
of the myriad reasons the southern Bhutanese had to flee,
every resident of the camps can be "legally" declared a
non-national. Such an interpretation of Bhutan's nationality
laws would run counter to international norms such as the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights' guarantees of the
rights to leave one's country and return, and to not be
arbitrarily deprived of nationality
Ambiguities and
the First Census
Ambiguities in the way the laws have been interpreted and
divergence from the laws as written began early. In practice,
it is unclear what affirmative actions were required, or even
possible, in the implementation of the 1958 law which the
government now claims was "passed to confer Bhutanese
citizenship to all Nepali settlers in southern Bhutan at that
time." [32] No certification process followed the law although
village headmen kept some forms of census records, mostly for
the purposes of assessing taxes and conscripting labor. Was
the passage of the law considered enough to confer
citizenship, with or without affirmative applications?
The government
asserts that "[o]ne of the specific aims of the 1958
Nationality Law was to grant citizenship as a Kidug (welfare)
and a once-and-for-all measure to all Nepali settlers in
southern Bhutan who had applied ... That is why those Nepali
immigrants who came to Bhutan after 31 December 1958 did not
apply for naturalisation under the 1958 Law." [33] The
inclusion of naturalization and spouse provisions in the 1958
law seem to belie this interpretation. Although adopted in
1958, the text of the law itself makes no distinction between
those arriving before 1958 and those arriving later.
Presumably someone immigrating to Bhutan in 1954 would not
have been eligible for citizenship until ten years later in
1964. A 1964 arrival would have been eligible in 1974. If the
aim of the law was a one-time-only grant with a 1958 deadline,
that aim is not found in the language of the text. Variance
between the language of the acts and their practical
application is compounded by terms like "can become a
Bhutanese national", "may be enrolled", and "may apply". Such
terminology leaves ambiguous the distinction between
eligibility for citizenship on paper and actual grants of
citizenship in reality. Given the ambiguous application
process and absence of citizenship certificates, on a
practical level it seems the 1958 law was not of great
consequence for the average illiterate farmer, and life went
on as usual.
A more
rigorous approach was taken to implementation of the 1977 law
through the first national census from 1979 to 1981. Teams of
census officials from the Department of Registration were sent
throughout the country. Following the census, citizens were
issued passport-like documents entitled "Citizenship Identity
Cards" (see front cover). According to the Nepalese
government, 66% of the residents in the camps have citizenship
cards or photocopies of cards that were confiscated in Bhutan.
[34] The government of Bhutan first charged that the census
was tainted by widespread abuse [35] and now adds that the
cards are being forged. [36] As it turns out, having a card
that said "The Holder of this Card is a Bhutanese Citizen" on
the first page meant little when the 1988 census rolled
around.
The First Days
of the 1988 Census
The government
of Bhutan informed Amnesty International that "the purpose of
the census currently underway is to identify Bhutanese
nationals in southern Bhutan." [37] The census is taking place
only in southern Bhutan, officially utilizing the new 1985
law. Census teams place people into one of seven categories:
F I Genuine Bhutanese
F2 Returned migrants (people who had left Bhutan and then
returned)
F3 "Drop-out" cases - i.e. people who were not around at the
time of the census [this
categorized is to be phased out]
F4 A non-national woman married to a Bhutanese man
F5 A non-national man married to a Bhutanese woman
F6 Adoption cases (children who have been legally adopted)
F7 Non-nationals, i.e. migrants and illegal settlers [38]
Categorization
is to be done by a "committee of 12 persons, including three
village elders." [39]As implemented, the village elders were
allowed little or no role and very few southern Bhutanese were
included on the census teams. Adding to the stress of the
census was the unclear consequences of being classified in the
various categories, leaving people uncertain of their fate.
Officially, the 1988 census implements the 1985 law, with its
three methods of attaining citizenship: by having two
Bhutanese parents, by registration of residence since 1958, or
by naturalization. In practice, naturalization has not been an
option and previous determinations of citizenship are not
accepted. That leaves registration and "confirm[s] what has
become the fundamental basis for citizenship: residence since
before 31 December 1958." [40] The government dismisses
charges that the 1985 law is thus retrospective, describing it
rather as a liberalization since citizenship by registration
"waives the requirement of the 1958 Law for 10 years residence
in Bhutan and ownership of agricultural land." [41] Of course,
by now a person qualifying for registration has resided in
Bhutan for over thirty years and such a waiver should not be
necessary. Both the hypothetical 1954 and 1964 arrivals
mentioned above by now would have met the residency
requirements for naturalization under either the 1958 law or
the stricter 1977 law, yet only the 1954 arrival would qualify
by registration. Here again the distinctions between
eligibility for citizenship and grants of citizenship are
important and unclear.
Concerns were
raised in 1988's 67th Session of Bhutan's National Assembly
concerning the retroactive impact of the 1985 law concerning
the derivative citizenship of spouses and offspring where the
new law's application had its greatest impact. For example, if
a foreign wife arrived in Bhutan in 1959 and is not recognized
as a citizen under one of the earlier laws, she fails under
registration. This would leave all her children with only one
Bhutanese parent, making them and any future generations
non-nationals. The King gave assurance that the "provisions of
all three Acts for the relevant period under which each was in
force must be honored" so that, for example, "children of
Bhutanese men married to non-nationals prior to 1985 would be
automatically eligible for citizenship." [42] In practice,
denials of citizenship in situations similar to the above
example are commonly reported by those in the camps.
The Bhutanese
government initially claimed that "[a]ny documentary evidence
whatsoever, (land ownership deeds or documents showing
sale/gift inheritance of land, tax receipts of any kind, etc)
showing that the person concerned was resident in Bhutan in
1958 is taken as conclusive proof of citizenship." [43] Those
without documents "are verified by three village elders." [44]
In screening arrivals to the camps, the government of Nepal
reports that, in addition to the 66% with citizenship cards,
12% of those seeking asylum in the camps have land documents
and 17% have other documents such as tax receipts. [45]
Recently, Bhutan reproduced some of these tax receipts which
had been displayed in an earlier refugee publication, adding
the caption, "This is the kind of document produced by the
people in the refugee camps as proof of their Bhutanese
citizenship. Payment of property tax in itself is hardly proof
of Bhutanese citizenship for there were many illegal
immigrants in Bhutan who had acquired property." [46] The
latter statement is more in line with the strict attitude
towards proof reported by refugees.
Refugees
report impossibly strict standards for accepting
documentation. Some report rejection for slight spelling
differences, or because middle names are spelled out on one
document and left to initials on others. Others report having
documents from years before and after 1958; but not 1958, and
being rejected as "F2", i.e. returned migrants. Those who had
moved from one part of Bhutan to another had exceptionally
difficult obstacles to overcome. Even in a modernized society
where paper-trails are a more pervasive part of life,
documentation dating back to 1958 would be a stiff
requirement. Under the demanding conditions imposed by the
census teams, the requirement is impossible for many southern
Bhutanese. After the events of September 1990, citizenship
became even more difficult to acquire and much easier to lose.
Integration or
Assimilation?
Since the 1950s, the government of Bhutan has made some clear
efforts to integrate southern Bhutanese into a social and
political mainstream. Some examples include standardization of
tax structures throughout the country, development projects in
southern Bhutan, and recruitment of southern Bhutanese into
the civil service, police and army. [47] These programs
contributed to the strong ties the refugees feel for Bhutan,
including among many a continued reverence for the King. Many
of the leaders of refuge organizations were civil servants who
were slow to believe reports of government actions in southern
Bhutan, and still attribute the problems to a small cadre of
elite rather than the people of northern Bhutan. But not all
programs for integration are as simple inclusion in the
government service, and many cut deeply into the cultural
heritage of the southern Bhutanese. The 'One Nation, One
People' policy of the government stresses the need for a
"distinct national identity", but does not envision forging
this identity to encompass the diversity of the nation's
cultures. The government is on record that the culture of the
north need not form the basis of the national identity, [48]
but in practice many policies impose Drukpa cultural elements
at the expense of others. The line between integration and
assimilation can be very fine, and the following policies must
be viewed against the backdrop of the ongoing census in
southern Bhutan.
Driglam Namzha--Legislating
Culture
With deep roots in the Drukpa culture ranging back to
Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in the early 1600s, the drigiam
namzha, or code of traditional values and etiquette,
encompasses "[s]uch virtues as respect for the teacher, the
sovereign, parent, elder; the institution of marriage and
family; civic duties and behavior that keep together the
strands of the Bhutanese social fabric." [49] Beyond
institutionalizing the particular value system of the Drukpa
culture, it "stipulates how people should conduct themselves
at different types of occasions (ceremonial, official,
informal, how to send and receive gifts, how to speak to
superiors, how to serve and eat food and refreshments during
public occasions, how to greet, etc.)" [50] As implemented,
the driglam namzha includes a national dress code, requiring
that gho be worn by men and kira by women. Just as the driglam
namzha is not new, debates over its implementation also are
not new. During the 1979 National Assembly: ".. [m]ost of the
members agreed and consented that the National Dress must be
worn during the National Assembly.
However, the
member of Samchi and a few members from southern Bhutan
expressed the inconvenience in wearing the national dress...
[and] requested that they be exempted from wearing the
national dress, as they felt they would be criticized by some
members of their society." [51] Even in these earlier debates
on the driglam namzha, the dress code aspect dominated
discussion. The King issued a royal kasho (decree) on January
16, 1989 implementing driglam namzha as part of the promotion
of the distinct national identity and the 'One Nation, One
People' theme of the Sixth Five-Year Plan. The kasho itself
did not strictly define national dress as the gho and kira,
but the government insisted on the "unavoidable necessity for
a small country like Bhutan to have an easily recognisable
type of dress." [52] In practice, "a man not wearing a Gho and
a woman not wearing a Kira were to be fined Nu. 100 each and
50 percent of this amount was to go to the police as
incentive." [53] In southern Bhutan where the gho and kira are
not the traditional dress and are ill-suited to the climate,
widespread abuse accompanied the admitted "provocative manner
in which [the driglam namzha policy] was implemented by
overzealous functionaries." [54] Refugees report on the spot
collection of fines (or in the alternative, imprisonment) if
caught without the national dress in virtually any location
outside their homes.
Intensifying
the feelings of discrimination based on this policy is the
view that southern Bhutan is especially targeted since it
"would appear that the dress code is enforced more strictly in
Chirang [a southern district] than in the capital." [55] Such
a conclusion is born out by debate during the 1992 National
Assembly session noting " [i]t was mostly in the capital city,
Thimphu, that the policy on Driglam Namzha and national dress
was not being observed... In particular, it was the children
of high ranking and influential people in Thimphu, including
some of the high ranking and influential themselves." [56]
Complaints of lax enforcement of the dress code in Thimphu led
to the drafting of a national Dress Act clarifying the law and
stiffening penalties. Yet this act, written largely to ensure
enforcement of the driglam namzha in Thimphu reluctantly was
set aside by the Assembly in the face of strong opposition
from the Home Minister. [57] In addition to highlighting the
disparity between enforcement in the north and South, this
discussion, complete with numerous asides about the
reappearance of banned television antennas in Thimphu, also
indicates the traditional society in Bhutan is under pressure
from forces of modernization as well as the forces of growing
ethnic populations
Language Policy
Dzongkha is the official national language, although the King
has noted that some of "our people faced great inconvenience
in learning Dzongkha" [58] and the Foreign Minister concedes
"all of us speak the Nepali language." [59] The official
newspaper publishes Dzongkha, Nepali and English versions; the
National Assembly provides simultaneous translation into
Nepali; and the government radio broadcasts in four languages,
including Nepali. In general, "life would be difficult for any
Bhutanese, other than members of the monastic community or
residents of farflung northern districts, who could not speak
rudimentary Nepali." [60] Language is perhaps the area of the
most significant impact of the southern Bhutanese culture on
the average Drukpa, and the use of Nepali has repeatedly come
under fire in the National Assembly. [61]
English has
been the medium of instruction in schools since 1961 and until
1989 both Dzongkha and Nepali were taught as separate
subjects, although Nepali was not taught in schools throughout
the north. In 1989, Nepali was dropped by the schools,
ostensibly as an educational decision, in part because:
"Dzongkha is taught as a second language, the inclusion of a
third language, Nepali, puts the child in southern Bhutan at a
considerable disadvantage... [and it] was concluded that
Nepali is the national language and lingua franca of another
country and not an ethnic language... Furthermore, the Nepali
language was only serving to accentuate the dichotomy of two
distinctive national cultures…" [62] This argument goes well
beyond purely educational motives, demonstrating the influence
of the 'One Nation, One People' ideal. In light of the ongoing
census exercise the decision to drop Nepali was understandably
perceived as a strike against southern Bhutanese culture.
Marriage
Incentives and the Marriage Act
In 1988 the government reported 11,442 marriages between
Bhutanese and non-nationals during the preceding 20 years.
[63] A breakdown of statistics on these marriages is not
provided, yet it is safe to assume that a good percentage
involve southern Bhutanese. Given the strict cultural and
caste restrictions on marriage, spouses are commonly sought
outside home communities, often in Nepal or India. A
longstanding approach of the government to discourage such
foreign marriages and promote integration is an incentive
(raised to Nu. 10,000 in 1989) for intermarriage between
southern and northern Bhutanese. [64] Opposite this incentive
stand stiff penalties for marriage to foreigners laid out in
the 1980 Marriage Act. Under this act, a Bhutanese citizen who
marries a foreigner is denied government assistance in the
form of land, seeds, loans, livestock, and health benefits. If
working for the government, promotion is denied from the day
of marriage, and removal from service is mandatory for workers
in the defense department or Foreign Ministry. All assistance
from the government for education is denied and any expenses
incurred to the day of marriage must be refunded.
Refugees
contend this act is discriminatory because of the disparate
impact on Southerners due to the large proportion of the
foreign marriages from their communities. Further, they charge
that the act is only implemented in the south, citing northern
high ranking officials with foreign spouses who have received
promotions and foreign postings in spite of the law. [65 ]The
King suggested that non-nationals married to Bhutanese...
could be granted special resident permit [sic]. They would
also be entitled to health, education and other social
benefits extended to citizens of the country. [66] There are
no indications that any such permits have actually been
issued.
No Objection
Certificates
The government of Bhutan states "to ensure that all bona fide
Bhutanese children received the first preference for admission
in schools, a No Objection Certificate was made essential" and
these "would not be issued to those students who have been
involved in anti-national activities and to children of
illegal immigrants." [67] No Objection Certificates were also
required "for the release of cheques to farmers for the sale
of their cash crops." [68] The government explained "the money
due to the owners of these cash crops is merely frozen and not
confiscated" and "will be released once the current disturbed
situation is resolved." [69] Refugees report that No Objection
Certificates were virtually impossible for southern Bhutanese
to obtain. The impact of No Objection Certificates is still
strongly felt by refugee farmers who had to flee before
collecting payment for years of work, or by students who lost
years from their education.
Green Belt
The government introduced a project to create a one kilometer
wide belt of forest along the border, "probably for security
reasons rather than for environmental ones since Bhutan is
already richly-forested." [70] The government's plan,
involving the displacement of thousands of people from some of
the most fertile land in Bhutan, was not met with favor from
international donors and was quickly dropped
The Beginnings
of Protest
In April, 1988, two southern Bhutanese members of the Royal
Advisory Council submitted a cautiously worded petition to the
King outlining southern Bhutanese concerns about the census.
The petition reported "Census Teams are questioning the people
with undue threats," "Citizenship Identity Cards already
issued have been confiscated," village elders "are not
permitted to testify the credentials of their village people,"
"illiterate and simple village people are being coerced into
signing documents, the contents of which are not known to
them," and "the people believe that this is not a routine
exercise as it is made out to be." [71] The cabinet declared
the petition seditious, focusing the blame on one of the
authors, Tek Nath Rizal. Rizal was removed from office,
arrested and held for three days. His release was secured
after signing a confession and an agreement not to meet with
more than three people at one time. Faced with constant
surveillance and insecurity, Rizal left Bhutan for Nepal in
July, 1988. [72] Refugees report that seven people from
Chirang who had been involved in the drafting of a separate
petition to the King were arrested, held for up to three days,
and later harassed through tactics such as being denied trade
permits and refused participation in district meetings.
In July, 1989,
a small group of dissidents in Nepal formed the Peoples Forum
for Human Rights (PFHR) to address the human rights situation
in Bhutan, and elected Rizal as chairperson. [73] The group
published several booklets which were distributed in Bhutan
and subsequently declared seditious. In October, 1989, Ratan
Gazmere, a lecturer at the National Institute of Education,
was arrested as "one of the main persons responsible for
printing and distributing seditious pamphlets" and accused of
various anti-national activities such as having "some students
refuse to wear 'ghos' and 'kiras' during the winter vacation
and instigate the people in villages to follow their example."
[74] Gazmere was not alone, and from October to December 1989,
"a total of 45 people were arrested for their involvement in
the writing of 'seditious pamphlets', among them Tek Nath
Rizal who along with Jogen Gazmere and Sushil Pokhrel was
arrested in Nepal on 15 November 1989 and handed over to
Bhutanese authorities." [75] Most of these prisoners were
released on January 19, 1990, and the remaining six, adopted
as prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International, were held
incommunicado without trial. Five of these six were finally
released after periods of detention ranging from 26 to 28
months, and Rizal is still imprisoned. [76]
Anti-national
Activity" and Mass Arrests
Amnesty International reports that "[u]nrest at government
policies regarding national integration and the application of
the Citizenship Act became widespread in southern Bhutan from
early 1990 onwards." [77] The Bhutan Peoples Party (BPP) was
formed in June, 1990, and, together with the Student Union of
Bhutan (SUB) and PFHR, organized demonstrations and protests
in September and October, 1990. Some of these rallies resulted
in violent conflict between the dissidents and the
authorities. Reports of government violence sometimes were
highly exaggerated by refugees, such as the reported massacre
of 300 people at a September, 1990 demonstration at Charmachi
Bridge in Samchi. [78] But in spite of the hyperbole in some
cases, reports of government shootings cannot be dismissed.
Many refugees received medical treatment for severe injuries
and bullet wounds, and refugees report the names of 19 people
killed by government gunfire during the months of September
and October, 1990. [79]
The government
alleges increasingly violent activity by "anti-nationals", or
ngolops. Reports include murders of census officials, attacks
on government facilities, and looting of local homes. Most of
the schools in the south were converted into army barracks and
health services were severely limited. In addition to those
claiming abuse by security forces, Amnesty International
interviewed victims who report abuse by opposition groups,
including forced donations to the BPP. [80] The issue of
terrorism is considered separately and in more detail in a
later section below. Following the September, 1990
demonstrations, raids by the army on southern Bhutanese homes
became common. People frequently were beaten and questioned on
participation in anti-national activities. Rape was widely
reported. Many were detained, for periods ranging from a few
days to a year, in prisons or the local schools which were
converted to army barracks and jails. Amnesty International
reports that the "total number of people arrested since early
1990 for suspected involvement in opposition activities runs
into thousands." [81]
Assessing
Claims of Violence and Torture
Several
refugee groups have documented arrests and mistreatment
witnessed in Bhutan or reported by those arriving in the
camps. The varying parameters defining their documentation
result in varying figures. The Human Rights Organization of
Bhutan (HUROB) documents 509 cases of male torture victims and
64 cases of female torture victims including 37 victims of
rape; the Association of Human Rights Activists (AHURA)
reports the names of 845 males and females who were imprisoned
in Bhutan and now reside in the Jhapa camps; the
Kathmandu-based Centre for Victims of Torture (CVICT) works
with rape victims and reports 138 victims presently in the
camps; and Save the Children Fund (SCF-UK) indicates 387
refugees seeking specialized treatment for the effects of
violence. [82] Amnesty International's report includes
numerous accounts of witnesses and survivors describing
torture, rape, and deaths in custody. [83] A 1993 report of
the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture cites numerous
allegations of torture which are not confirmed or denied. [84]
Similarly, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial,
Summary or Arbitrary Executions did not have enough
information to reach a conclusion concerning 185 alleged
executions. [85] The government of Bhutan denies torture and
claims refugees are "carefully tutored by the BNDP and HUROB
cadres" and taught to "narrate horrendous tales of torture,
rape and other fabricated excesses by Bhutanese security
forces." [86]How reliable is the reporting of torture in
Bhutan?
The office of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
commissioned a study conducted by sociologist and social
worker Cindy Dubble to evaluate the extent of the problem and
assess the needs of victims of violence in the camps. After
correlating the various lists of victims, Dubble interviewed a
random sample of 100 men from a composite list of 850 reported
male victims in the camps, and 38 women out of 150 reported
rape victims. [87] Through in depth interviews, consideration
of corroborating evidence such as medical reports, and
cross-checking for consistency between interviews, Dubble
verified torture in 95 of the 100 reported torture cases. [88]
The more personally and culturally sensitive issue of rape was
less easily verifiable, with Dubble confirming rape in 63% of
the cases and violence (though not strictly rape under a
formal definition) in 21 % of the cases. The remaining cases
were confirmed as victims of violence, yet determinations
concerning rape were inclusive. [89] Victims universally
suffered severe beatings and most were kept tied or in
handcuffs. All report horrendous conditions of confinement in
small or crowded spaces with inadequate sanitation facilities
and minimal, or purposely polluted, food. Common forms of
torture include the wearing of shackles welded onto the
victims' legs, solitary confinement, and exposure to severe
cold weather. A frequent interrogation technique involves
placing thick boards above and below the victims thigh, tied
at one end. During questioning a guard stands on the top
board, putting unbearable pressure on the leg. Many methods of
torture involve degrading behaviors, such as being paraded
naked or being made to imitate animals and combat each other
in mock "bull-fights" for the guards' entertainment. This list
is far from exhaustive and detailed statements of victims of
torture are found in most publications on the refugee
situations. [90] Dubble's report includes a thorough listing
of commonly used methods of torture, sorted by the various
places of detention where they are practiced. Her list
includes the names of perpetrators who were recognized or
known by their victims. [91]
Women face
special problems as survivors of rape and torture. For many
men, surviving torture was traumatic, yet for Hindu women who
are raped, trauma can be compounded with great shame and
stigmatization. Some women report rejection by husbands and
families, while others are afraid to talk about their
experiences for fear of rejection. Other victims have had to
deal with pregnancies and children resulting from rapes. Some
special services are provided in the camps for victims of
violence. SCF-UK provides medical services and CVICT, in
conjunction with AHURA, initiated a program providing
counseling for rape victims and medical treatment in Kathmandu
for some torture victims. A group of refugees have started
Bhutanese Refugees Assisting Victims of Violence (BRAVVE), an
income generating project teaching tailoring skills to
victims. Programs like BRAVVE are a good model and other such
projects should be developed. But a broader population of the
camp also needs such programs, and when these programs are
mainstream all can participate without continuing
identification as a victim.
Terrorism in
Southern Bhutan
Since February 1990, the government of Bhutan has reported
anti-national activity and terrorism in southern Bhutan. Early
accounts were mild, such as harassment of people wearing the
national dress. Charges soon became more serious, such as the
beheadings of government and census officials recounted by
Amnesty International. [107] Since that time, government
publications and the government newspaper Kuensel have kept up
a steady barrage of accusations and graphic photos of victims,
almost all of whom are ethnic Nepalis. The crimes now
attributed to terrorists cover a wide range, from robbery to
murder to destruction of government facilities and bridges,
though simple robbery is still the most commonly reported
crime. [108] Other crimes attributed to terrorists are more
unusual, such as Kuensel's report that "[a]nti-nationals
felled and stole more than 200 hardwood trees from the Jhari
Forest Plantation, Samchi, on February 2, 1993." [109] While
some reports of anti-national activities are credible,
virtually no crime in southern Bhutan is not attributed to
terrorists. Amnesty International concluded "what seem[]
ordinary criminal acts [are] reported as being the
responsibility of 'anti-nationals' despite the apparent lack
of evidence to confirm that political opponents of the
government, rather than common criminals, were responsible."
[110] Further, some terrorist charges are simply not credible.
For example, Amnesty International "concluded that the
individual crimes for which [the six prisoners of conscience]
were held responsible were all committed... six or more months
after they were detained." [111] Bhutan charges that " [m]ost
of the terrorist raids are being carried out by terrorist
groups sent from the refugee camps in Nepal." [112] There are
numerous cases of persons registered in the camps being
arrested in Bhutan and charged with terrorism. [113] Refugees
do not deny violence in southern Bhutan, but claim it is
carried out by security forces or common criminals taking
advantage of the situation in southern Bhutan. Some villages
are nearly empty and the remaining families are isolated and
vulnerable. In some cases, refugees report Assamese criminal
gangs from India who hire a local southern Bhutanese guide to
identify the remaining families likely to be rich targets.
Others attribute individual attacks to personal revenge
against informants. Some claim that refugees simply return to
see relatives.
In most cases,
the only evidence of terrorist connections is the reported
confession of captured perpetrators, which are dubious given
the conditions of detention documented above. Still, given the
earlier documented political motives of some crimes, it is
definitely probable that some of the reported crimes are
politically motivated. Independent verification of terrorist
charges has not been possible since access to southern Bhutan
is limited. For example, Bhutan did not allow Amnesty
International to visit Chirang district in southern Bhutan
"for security reasons" [114] and denied a request to visit
Bhutan from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
[115] Objective assessment of the extent of anti-national
activity in southern Bhutan and alleged political motivations
behind acts of violence will not take place until wider access
to southern Bhutan is allowed.
Southern Bhutan
Today
As mentioned above, southern Bhutan is not accessible to the
outside world and descriptions of current conditions come from
recent arrivals to the camps in Nepal and government
publications. Needless to say, these tell divergent stories.
The focus of Bhutanese government reports is on anti-national
activities. Kuensel and the debates of the National Assembly
give the impression of growing popular sentiment against the
southern Bhutanese, but these sources may reflect official
bias. Refugees report that arrests have decreased or changed
in nature. Such a conclusion is confirmed by Dubble's random
sample of victims, showing a peak in arrests in 1990 and 1991
(see above). It is not known how many prisoners are still
held. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has
been allowed to visit some, but not all, places of detention
in Bhutan since January, 1993. Prisoners released in 1993
report "conditions in those prisons visited by ICRC during
1993 have improved." [116]
A common theme
among the stories of new arrivals includes being arrested
without charge for a short period and forced to do intense
labor. Victims are then released, after being told to emigrate
or they will be re-arrested for longer periods. Having
personally experienced arrest, and aware of the more
pronounced abuse suffered by earlier victims, most " choose"
to leave. For some such a decision is reinforced by feelings
of isolation in near empty villages. Those who relied on
community irrigation schemes or cash income from occasional
employment with a rich neighbor cannot maintain their old ways
and have added incentive to join their communities in exile.
The government reports that 60 schools have reopened in
southern Bhutan. [117] HUROB claims that only 24 have reopened
and those only for "children of security forces, government
officials, National Assembly members, and other persons of
influence." [118] If true, the current situation would be a
continuation of the earlier officially announced policy of the
government by which "schools will only admit the direct
children of the government employees, security forces and
public officials in active service." [119] The National
Assembly in 1992 debated 16 proposals for the resettlement by
northerners of land vacated by southern Bhutanese. [120] These
proposals were partly justified as a counterpoint to an
unsuccessful plan two years earlier to provide incentives to
southern Bhutanese who settle in the north. The assembly
resolved to develop a suitable resettlement plan, coordinating
with all concerned departments. Resettlement of the lands
vacated by fleeing southern Bhutanese would be a major
complication to any future repatriation. [121]
In the Refugee
Camps
According latest UNHCR figures, 84,245 people are registered
in the rows of small huts in the eight camps in Jhapa and
Morang districts of southeastern Nepal. There are actually
five sites, with the largest being divided administratively
and considered separate camps. The largest grouping is found
in the three Beldangi camps with 42,670 people, a population
approached by only one town in the district. [122] Camps are
run by UNHCR Project Monitoring Officers, government of Nepal
Camp Managers, and a small group of Nepali police. Much of the
day-to-day operations and record keeping falls to the
semi-elected Camp Management Committees. UNHCR's major
implementing partners are Save the Children Fund (SCF-UK) for
health and Lutheran World Service (LWS) for most other aspects
such as food and housing. Camp residents are provided bamboo
and sheet plastic to build their own huts. Refugees are
supplied rations of rice, lentils, vegetables and kerosene for
cooking. Some of the camps, such as the Beldangi camps, have a
planned appearance, with long rows of huts and latrines.
Others, such as Sanischare and Timai, are more scattered,
revealing themselves as the earliest camps, established more
as a squatters settlements than as organized camps. Maidhar,
the earliest camp, built on the floodplain of a river and
subjected to severe flooding during the monsoons, has been
closed and the residents relocated to other camps. In some
areas locals have capitalized on the presence of the refugees
by establishing rows of small stores just outside the camps to
cater to the basic needs of the refugees which are not met by
the camps such as soap, tea, milk, etc.
Each of the
camps have schools now, though they are crowded and run on
several shifts with few supplies. Attendance at the schools is
excellent, as there is little else for children to do. Health
services are better than in the average Nepali village. An SCF-UK
worker reported a recent survey of children in Beldangi
identified only 1.9% as malnourished. There are still
complaints that the food is not enough, or the kerosene
provided for stoves does not last the month, or especially
that the plastic sheets provided for roofing rip easily and
leak. The camps are far from luxurious, with small huts
housing large extended families. But in general, the struggle
for basic survival faced in the last few years is over. Now
the challenge of physical survival takes a back seat to the
challenge of maintaining a semblance of society despite the
breakdown of normal circumstances. As the likelihood of a long
stay dawns on refugees, the prospect of empty days weighs
heavily. This idle population has proven a fertile breeding
ground for political organizations adding to tension in the
camps. There is a small income generation program organized by
Oxfam which teaches women to knit and provides materials and
small incentives for finished products. Such programs are
badly needed for a wider segment of the population, especially
for youths who are no longer in school.
Relations with
Local Communities
With the refugee camps forming some of the largest
concentrations of people in eastern
Nepal,
interactions between the local population and the refugees are
unavoidable. [123] Relations range from excellent at Goldhap
Camp to strained and angry around Sanischare Camp.
Conversations with people of the surrounding communities
inevitably include complaints about refugees leaving the camps
to find work outside, often for low wages which undercut the
daily wage demands of the locals. A common practice of
refugees leaving the camps to work is giving their ration
cards to those who stay behind. This means there are surpluses
of some of the staples provided by UNHCR which find their way
onto the local market, depressing prices. UNHCR has instituted
spot checks to identify missing persons and pull ration cards
of those not in the camps. Prices of those items not provided
by UNHCR, such as milk or eggs, are not immune from influence
and have greatly increased due to demand from refugees. Locals
also report that house rents have increased astronomically due
to the influx of aid agencies and their workers. On the other
hand, quite a few individuals have profited from the boom in
contracts for construction, building materials, and other
supplies.
Social effects
also are acutely felt. Locals complain of increased theft,
prostitution and robbery. Some of these are due to the
refugees, but other incidents are readily blamed on the
refugees who provide a convenient scapegoat for local social
problems. The Sanischare Camp, which is located closest to a
Nepali bazaar town predictably has the most friction between
refugees and locals. Lutheran World Service is hoping to
coordinate a series of projects sponsored by a variety of
donors to develop projects to offset or mitigate the impacts
of the refugees on the local population. Suggestions from the
local communities range from building schools to water
projects to roads. Some communities already have benefitted
indirectly, such as Goldhap village which would have waited a
long time for a road if not for the presence of a refugee
camp. As screening increases the number of people who are
refused assistance in the camps, local relations may see more
strain. Those refused assistance are still free to enter Nepal
and they likely will stick close to their relatives in the
camps. This population is technically not allowed to spend the
night in the camps, so they may attempt to squat on local or
government land as the original flows of refugees did. This
presence, adding to the population of homeless Nepali
nationals such as the 4,000 households squatting near Timai
camp would surely become a factor in local politics.
Organizations
in Exile
The proliferation of human rights groups and political parties
among the refugees has created more rivalry than cooperation,
yet it is increasingly important as it is also increasingly
confusing. A full account of the various parties and human
rights groups is beyond the scope of this paper but some
understanding of the situation is important. The groups play
an influential role in the camps and rivalries among groups
are as likely to upset a smooth solution as is the reluctance
of the government of Bhutan. The refugee situation has spawned
human rights and political activists of a variety of agendas
and missions. The animosity between some of the groups leads
not only to inefficiency in supplying relief, but also to
discord and violence in the fragile society established in the
camps. There are already conflicts concerning who speaks for
the refugees, and what the voice of the refugees should say.
As the governments of
Nepal
and Bhutan meet to discuss the future of the refugees, there
surely will be different reactions to any proposals emanating
from the talks.
As noted
above, Tek Nath Rizal and a small group of dissidents formed
the Peoples Forum for Human Rights (PFHR) in July, 1989. The
Bhutan Peoples Party (BPP) was formed in June, 1990 and, along
with PFHR and the Students Union of Bhutan (SUB) organized the
mass rallies beginning September, 1990. In September, 1991 the
leadership of PFHR voted to change its name to the Human
Rights Organization of Bhutan (HUROB) and distance itself from
its former links with the BPP, its youth wing, the Youth
Organization of Bhutan (YOB), and politics in general. In the
process they thought to dissolve PFHR, yet PFHR was soon
revived by a handful of members and an infusion of personnel
from the BPP leadership. Shortly thereafter, the Bhutan
National Democratic Party (BNDP) was formed by persons with
close ties to HUROB. HUROB has tried hard to distance itself
from the BNDP, but rightly or wrongly is often associated with
the party. The Association of Human Rights Activists (AHURA)
was formed next by later arriving refugees who saw the other
human rights groups as too closely tied to political parties.
A third political party, the Bhutan Congress Party (BCP), was
recently formed in May, 1993 by a handful of defecting BPP
members, but it has yet to do much more than announce its
existence. The array is confusing not just to outsiders, but
also to many of the refugees who are simple farmers with no
experience or interest in active participatory politics.
The original
PFHR was initially responsible for much of the camp management
and HUROB assumed these duties after it split from the BPP.
The split left HUROB with a considerable role in camp
management which was resented by the BPP, which works hard to
promote an active image in the camps. In explaining the
decision to split, HUROB founders cite the need to distance
themselves from politics and policies of the BPP which they
did not feel were strong enough in renouncing violence. The
BPP is clearly the group most often linked to violence by the
government of Bhutan. Claiming non-violent principles, the BPP
has been somewhat slow to disassociate itself from charges of
violence within Bhutan. According to some, the failure to make
strong denials is in order to enhance their image as a party
which is active in Bhutan. Different visions of membership
provide perhaps the greatest distinction between the operating
styles of the groups. For example, the BPP envisions itself as
a populist movement and touts its history of concrete action
in Bhutan. A recent project was the dissemination of a
publication on the refugee situation in the Dzongkha language
in Bhutan. The BPP is the most active recruiter of members in
the camps and much of the political activism in the camps
initiates with it. HUROB and BNDP, in contrast, do not see
themselves as membership organizations, but as a rather small
cadres of former government officials and professionals.
HUROB's approach has been one of documenting violations in
Bhutan and actively lobbying on the international front,
declaring that it will work first for return through avenues
such as internationalization of the issue, then the time for
politics will come and the parties can take over. As a later
arrival on the scene, AHURA also has a small membership and
has made independence and political non-affiliation guiding
principles. Issues of personality, background and class also
play a role with groups like HUROB, BNDP and AHURA composed
primarily of former high level civil servants, in contrast to
the broader membership sought by the BPP and its affiliate
PFHR.
The leaders of
the various groups and parties frequently criticize each other
on both policy and personal issues. For instance, accusing the
BNDP of "sit and wait" policies aimed at a return to the old
status quo in Bhutan, the BPP stays in the limelight through
frequent media contact and a strong presence in the camps.
Other groups respond that contrived media attention is
counterproductive when planned events like the BPP's long
awaited satyagraha (peaceful non-cooperation protest) in
Bhutan are repeatedly announced but not implemented. [124] On
more personal levels, leaders of the groups trade rumors about
each other and recent reports from the camps indicate that one
group has just initiated a signature campaign against leaders
of a rival group. Leaders accuse each other with charges such
as involvement in incidents in the camps, not having a strong
claim to Bhutanese citizenship, or being more interested in
personal advancement than in helping refugees. Such infighting
among refugees damages the credibility of all the groups and
obscures the fact that they share many common goals. The
rivalry between groups is not just a game played among
intellectual exiles, and it has serious consequences for the
prospects of peace in the camps and peaceful resolution of the
refugee problem. In the past year, two murders in the camps
were linked to political activism and there are numerous
incidents of threats and intimidation towards other refugees
and aid personnel. The government of Nepal and UNHCR have
moved to reduce political activities in the camps and has
increased the presence of police in the camps. A unified
front, or at least constructive and peaceful working
relationship among the groups, is important not just for the
sake of a secure atmosphere in the camps. If the talks between
Bhutan and Nepal lead towards a solution at some point in the
future, contradictory reactions by the various groups to any
proposals are likely to increase tensions in the camps and may
compromise efforts to secure a return to Bhutan.
A Committee for
Categorization
The journey down the slow road of quiet diplomacy reached a
milestone on July 18, 1993 when the governments of Bhutan and
Nepal announced the intention to form a joint committee to
seek a "speedy and durable solution to the problem of the
people in the refugee camps in eastern Nepal." [125] The
committee will be at the ministerial level and be composed of
three people from each government. The official task that so
far has been announced for the committee is to "determine the
different categories of the people claiming to have come from
Bhutan in the refugee camps of eastern Nepal." [126] This
committee is strictly bilateral with no role as yet envisioned
for India or UNHCR. The Joint Secretary of the Home Ministry
of Nepal describes this categorization as a simple prospect,
stating, "Those who are Bhutanese citizens go back to Bhutan,
those who are Indian citizens go to India, and those who are
Nepalese citizens stay in Nepal." [127] Factual determinations
aside, it is doubtful that establishing categories will be so
straightforward. The government of Bhutan has often discussed
the various categories of people in the camps, and a recent
list included: "illegal Nepali residents in Bhutan; imported
Nepali labourers who were claiming to be Bhutanese nationals
by virtue of having worked in Bhutan; dissidents, many of whom
had committed criminal and terrorist offences in Bhutan;
Bhutanese nationals who had emigrated legally after renouncing
their citizenship and selling all their properties; and people
from other parts of the region including Nepal itself, who had
never even set foot in Bhutan." [128] In an earlier listing in
Kuensel, another category was included, that of "Bhutanese
nationals who had left of their own free will in response to
the inducements offered by the dissident groups in Nepal."
[129] Bhutan tacitly acknowledges the presence of genuine
refugees, agreeing it "would accept full responsibility for
all bona fide Bhutanese nationals who had been forcibly
evicted from Bhutan." [130]
Elaboration on
this last category of "bona fide Bhutanese refugees" also
could easily include subcategories such as: those forced to
sign "voluntary" agreements before leaving; those accused of
anti-national activities; those who lost nationality because a
relative was accused of anti-national activities; those who
served terms in prison over a year in length; those who fled
before facing the census; those who lost citizenship through
retroactive application of citizenship laws, etc. Given that
Bhutan denies the existence of cases such as would fall into
these categories, factual issues will be a major stumbling
block for resolution of many cases. Setting up a modality for
sorting the refugees is a daunting task and the prospect of
individual adjudication of claims to Bhutanese citizenship,
each complete with problems of verification, is over-whelming.
Any individualized process would be incredibly slow. To even
attempt such a process without active assistance from UNHCR
would be evidence of the lack of any intention to succeed.
Even if categorization is accomplished, it may be no more than
a ploy to delay for years while commitments concerning return
for those in various categories are unclear. For example, if a
category for "dissidents" is established as Bhutan suggests,
what is to be their fate? Under existing Bhutanese law, a
genuine Bhutanese national can lose citizenship for
anti-national activities, but this does not make that person a
citizen of either Nepal or India. Bhutan is certainly not
eager to accept the return of dissidents, and without some
guarantees of safety many dissidents are not eager to return.
Roadblocks to
Resolution
The Home Ministry of Nepal firmly states that "it is not up to
the refugees to choose their repatriation procedure. It is up
to His Majesty's Government of Nepal." Refugees are sincerely
grateful to Nepal for the humanitarian response of the country
in providing relief, but they now resent being shut out of the
process of negotiating for their futures. The faltering
progress of the Nepalese government's quiet diplomacy leaves
the refugees with understandably little confidence in
Nepal as a negotiator for their futures. This is especially true as
Nepal's Home Ministry has been
the active player, and it is more than busy dealing with the
aftermath of the massive floods and landslides which recently
ravaged Nepal. The ongoing communist-led demonstrations and
general strikes provide further distractions as the Nepali
Congress government fights for its continued existence with a
slim majority in the parliament. Also, the growing tensions
between refugees and locals provide incentives for the
government which may not match those of the refugees.
Unfortunately, though the bilateral committee may be a
positive step, real solutions appear a distant hope. Even if
some categorization and sorting processes are achieved,
numerous issues must be addressed before any thought of
repatriation is possible. These are not issues that have
simple answers, and resolution of these issues, and the
refugee problem, will be slow in coming. Still, the problems
of future should be factored into any talks at an early stage.
If not, the talks become a charade and yet another excuse for
delay. Below is just a sampling of the issues to be resolved.
For starters, although refugee groups and parties call for the
return of all those in the camps, few observers believe that
Bhutan will agree to the return of more than a fraction of
those in the camps. Any future proposals for partial return
are sure to be opposed by the refugees and create further
divisions among the refugee groups. Another baseline issue for
the refugees that has yet to be addressed is the guarantee of
human rights upon return. Without international monitoring of
some sort, many refugees will not feel safe returning to the
country where they suffered abuse. While there are still
reports of ongoing abuse and political prisoners such as Tek
Nath Rizal still are detained in Bhutan, constructive dialogue
on this point is difficult. With Nepal's less than stellar
human rights record, the refugees might wish for a different
negotiator if the talks ever reach the topic of human rights
guarantees in Bhutan. Refugee demands for democratic reforms
are sure to create havoc.
Bhutan has shown no willingness to even consider reforms. Some groups see
minimal reform as a future issue after return, while others
demand a major overhaul as a prerequisite to return. The
reconciliation of democratic reforms with
Bhutan's concerns for cultural
preservation will create immense complications, and consensus
will not be achieved easily. Refugees want to return to the
land they abandoned, but fear that Bhutan will try to scatter
them throughout the north. Even if Bhutan does not resettle
the southern lands and allows return there, issues of
compensation paid to those fleeing will arise. If any of those
in the camps are unable to return, issues of assistance
settling in Nepal or India may complicate resettlement. Recent
reports from Bhutan indicate that the government has initiated
a signature campaign in southern Bhutan calling for those who
left to not be allowed back. The pressures a southern
Bhutanese may feel when presented with such a petition are
enormous, but the very existence of such documents will
complicate return. Compensation issues also arise in the
context of accountability for those who committed human rights
violations. Bhutan has yet to admit violations, and is not
likely to do so. Yet reconciliation without some
acknowledgement or accountability will leave unresolved
tensions. Other issues include the fate of refugees not in
camps, extradition of some refugee leaders sought by Bhutan,
accountability versus impunity for human rights violators,
etc.
Motivations for Compromise
The issues discussed above are important to keep in mind, but
any talk of resolving them would be premature, since solutions
are not around the comer. Any movement towards a solution of
the refugee situation will require compromise on all sides. As
yet, there is little indication that the government of Bhutan
is ready to soften its stance on recognizing the claims of
nationality by refugees in Nepal, despite pressure from many
angles. Sources of pressure on Bhutan include growing
international media attention, concerns of international
donors and withdrawal of aid, the diplomatic talks with Nepal,
activism by the refugees both inside and outside Bhutan, and
India. Of these sources of pressure, most agree that India is
the key to any solution, although its role might not be very
open. As the regional superpower, and the country which
landlocks both Bhutan and Nepal, India has tremendous
influence in the area. Nepal was reminded of this during its
1989-90 trade and transit dispute with India. Bhutan is
equally vulnerable, receiving 70% of its foreign aid from
India. Bhutan is further bound by a 1949 treaty to be "guided
by the advice of the Government of India in regard to its
external relations." [131] Since all the refugees in Nepal got
there by crossing through about 100 kilometers of India, and
would return the same way, any solution without Indian
approval is unlikely. Also, a common claim of Bhutan is that
many of those in the camps are really from India, again
leaving a solution in India's absence impractical. As yet,
India has not adopted positions openly or made clear use of
its influence to promote a solution.
In spite of
the lack of public statements on its position, many believe
India is active behind the scenes. Some attribute the entire
problem to a conscious policy set in motion by India, perhaps
seeking to destabilize either Nepal or Bhutan or both. Others
see the hand of India in Bhutan's changed stance on talks with
Nepal or in Nepal's sudden reversal of its decision to
internationalize the issue. Still others deny an active Indian
role, attributing India's inaction to its comfortable dealings
with the Thimphu regime on issues such as the sale of cheap
hydropower. The level of India's activity to date is unclear.
What is clear is the need for India to become active, openly
or behind the scenes, since this is the most realistic route
to creating the kind of pressure needed to bring about a
settlement. In the meantime, continued attention and publicity
on the international front is needed to keep pressure on
Bhutan and prompt India into positive action. International
donor agencies are uniquely positioned to apply pressure on
Bhutan.
Looking Ahead
The issues outlined above will not be resolved easily and the
prospects for quick solutions are dim. For refugees in Nepal
this means the challenge of living in exile and struggling to
hold together their families and society under trying
circumstances. For southern Bhutanese in Bhutan this means
continued insecurity and exposure to the threats of violence
and deportation. For all there is the continuing fight to have
the government of Bhutan recognize legitimate claims to
nationality and legitimate claims to live according to one's
own culture. The contrast between the image of Bhutan as
shangri-la and the reality of southern Bhutan is hard for many
to accept. Yet Bhutan has a long history of strong action to
protect its borders from perceived threats of invasion. The
fierce passion of the northern Bhutanese in protecting their
culture is not in itself the problem. It is the manifestation
of this cultural protection in the denial of the human rights
of the southern Bhutanese that must be condemned. The
government of Bhutan cannot make the simple equation that
advocating for the rights of the southern Bhutanese is the
same as advocating for the extinction of the Drukpa culture.
Hope for the future lies in the belief that in Bhutan there is
room for both the northern and southern cultures. Diversity is
not a luxury reserved for large countries and can be an aspect
of Bhutan's distinct national culture.
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