wfn.org | Nepal: Bhutanese Refugees Rendered Stateless

["Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>]

Leading Global NGOs Criticize Screening Process

GENEVA, 19 June 2003 (LWI) - The announcement by the governments
of Bhutan and Nepal that only a handful of Bhutanese refugees will
be allowed to return to their country with full citizenship rights
could render thousands of refugees stateless, six international
humanitarian and rights groups have said. The remaining refugees
will have just 15 days to appeal their categorization in a
screening process that the two governments have been conducting
since March 2001.

In a joint statement, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch, Refugees International, the
U.S. Committee for Refugees, and the Bhutanese Refugee Support
Group, are calling on donor governments and governments in the
region to increase pressure on the governments of Bhutan and Nepal
to find a just and fair solution to this long-standing refugee
crisis.

"The Bhutanese refugees have been waiting over a decade for a
solution to their plight," said Rachael Reilly, Human Rights
Watch's refugee policy advisor. "This is not a solution, but
rather a wholesale violation of their rights."

On June 18 Nepal and Bhutan issued the results of a pilot
verification process in one camp that divided the 12,000 refugees
into four categories:
- Two and a half percent of the refugees in Category I: bona fide
Bhutanese citizens who would be eligible for repatriation to
Bhutan
- Seventy percent in Category II: refugees who "voluntarily
emigrated" from Bhutan and would be required to reapply for
Bhutanese citizenship and would not be able to return to their own
land and property
-Twenty four percent in Category III:  non-Bhutanese people whose
claims to citizenship were rejected and would be returned to their
respective countries
- Three percent in Category IV: so-called "criminals" who would be
tried in the Bhutanese courts

"The world has neglected the Bhutanese refugees for far too long,"
said Peter Prove, Assistant to the General Secretary for
International Affairs and Human Rights at the LWF. "The
governments of Bhutan and Nepal have failed to deliver a workable
solution. The international community must now intervene and
demand that the rights of the refugees are upheld," he added.

More than 100,000 refugees of ethnic Nepalese origin from southern
Bhutan have been living in camps in southeast Nepal for a dozen
years after they were arbitrarily stripped of their nationality
and forced to flee Bhutan in the early 1990's. The Bhutanese
refugee situation has become one of the most protracted and
neglected refugee crises in the world.

"This decision sends a message to other governments that it is
legally acceptable to arbitrarily deprive a whole ethnic group of
their nationality, expel them from their country, and then refuse
to accept them back," said Ingrid Massage, interim Director of the
Asia and Pacific program at Amnesty International. "Bhutan's
donors should not rubber-stamp a process that could render tens of
thousands stateless."

The NGOs criticize the length of time it has taken for the two
governments to complete the verification process in Khudunabari
camp, and the absence of any transparency or international
monitoring. Although the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) has been administering the Bhutanese refugee
camps since the start of the crisis in 1991, it has been
systematically excluded by both governments from playing any role
in the status determination and repatriation process.

The NGOs challenge the findings of the verification and argue that
the four categories were seriously flawed. Refugees whose claims
to Bhutanese citizenship were rejected may have been arbitrarily
stripped of their nationality before they were forced out of
Bhutan due to the discriminatory nature and application of
Bhutan's citizenship laws. Furthermore, many of those refugees
classified as having voluntarily emigrated from Bhutan were in
fact forced into signing "voluntary migration" certificates before
they were expelled from the country. Finally, refugees found to be
"criminals" in the categorization process were likely to have been
pro-democracy political activists who risked facing unfair trials
and lack of due process protections if they were returned to
Bhutan.

The NGOs argue that the Bhutanese refugees should have access to a
full, fair and impartial appeal process with sufficient time to
prepare their case and with access to independent advice. At
present, they will have only 15 days to appeal their
categorization to the same adjudicators, and only on the basis of
new documentary evidence. The NGOs express serious concern that
the large number of refugees forced to reapply for their
citizenship would face severe obstacles due to Bhutan's burdensome
citizenship requirements and the arbitrary provisions of its
citizenship laws.

The NGOs call on donor governments and governments in the region
to increase pressure on the governments of Bhutan and Nepal to:
- Invite UNHCR to help facilitate and monitor the verification and
repatriation process
- Create a fair and independent appeal process with sufficient
time for refugees to present their appeal to an impartial third
party
- Uphold the rights of Bhutanese refugees, including the right to
return and the right to citizenship

For more information please contact:
In Geneva, Peter Prove, The Lutheran World Federation:
41-22-791-6364/ 41-78-757-6749 (mobile)
In New York, Rachael Reilly, Human Rights Watch: 1-212-222-4869/
1-917-531-5651 (mobile)
In Washington D.C., Kenneth F. Bacon, Refugees International:
1-202-828-0110
In Washington D.C., Hiram Ruiz, U.S. Committee for Refugees:
1-202-347-3507/ Evening: 1-202-494-7790
In London, Magda Wendorff-Kowalczuk, Amnesty International:
44-207-413-5729/
44-7778-472-173 (mobile)
In Dublin, Mary Coghlan, Bhutanese Refugee Support Group:
353-87-648-0575 (mobile)/ 353-1-882-7889 (land)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the
Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now
has 136 member churches in 76 countries representing over 61.7
million of the 65.4 million Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on
behalf of its member churches in areas of common interest such as
ecumenical and interfaith relations, theology, humanitarian
assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in
Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is LWF's information service.
Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent
positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where
the dateline of a article contains the notation (LWI), the
material may be freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

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