Bhutan : Situation Of Ethnic Nepalis

Kazi Gautam

A New-York based human rights organisation - Human Rights Watch (HRW) - made public its report in Kathmandu on May 17. In the report, the HRW has presented a report on the situation of ethnic Nepalis in Bhutan, the condition of the refugees in the camps and three options available to the refugees. The study has highlighted that ethnic Nepalis residing in Bhutan have been facing constant prejudice and ongoing threats to their citizenship status, and implies there could be more ethnic cleansing in the days ahead. Problems of ethnic Nepalis According to an official census conducted in 2005, 13 per cent of Bhutan's current permanent residents are "non-nationals". Following the census, new ID cards are being distributed to all recognised Bhutanese citizens. But those eligible for receiving the ID cards are F1 (genuine Bhutanese citizens) and F4 (non-national women married to Bhutanese men, and their children). A lack of 'No Objection Certificates' (NOC) barred others from getting the ID.

The NOCs were introduced by the government following political instability in the south in the early 1990s when the Lhotsampas (Nepali speaking people) revolted against the Druk regime. NOCs are issued by the Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) only if they receive confirmation from the Dzongdag (district administrator) that a person in question is not in any way involved in "anti-national activity". NOCs are required for enrollment in higher education, employment in the civil service, obtaining business and trading licenses, travel documents and the like. During the last census, the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGB) did not allow a large portion of Lhotsampas to enlist their names in the voting list. They were asked to produce NOCs before their names could be included in the voting list. But the RBP did not provide them the NOC, alleging them that they had constant touch with the refugees living in Nepal. Some 70,000 Lhotsampas were not included in the mock election that Bhutan conducted last month. The lack of NOCs does not allow the Bhutanese to get involved in any sort of political or governmental activities. On the other hand, ethnic Nepalis are always in fear that their NOC and citizenship might be snatched away if they keep relations with the refugees. Some refugees who sometimes visit the camps refuse to talk about their present condition in Bhutan. They fear that the source of information might be revealed to the Bhutanese authorities and that might eventually become a reason to get evicted from the country.

The practice of forced labour still exists in southern Bhutan. Ethnic Nepalis must provide free labour. They have to assist the Drukpas to get resettled on the land that was once owned by the refugees. There is no instruction in the Nepali language, even in schools in the southern districts - only Dzongkha and English are taught. Ethnic Nepalis are still expected to wear gho (for men) and kira (for women), the traditional Drukpa clothes, in schools and other public places, as stipulated by the king's 1989 decree of Driglam Namza. A draft constitution released in March 2005 incorporates the discriminatory provisions of the 1985 Citizenship Act, and provides that Dzongkha is the national language of Bhutan, and that Buddhism is the "spiritual heritage of Bhutan".During the 14th SAARC summit, Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and Foreign Minister Sahana Pradhan pressured their Bhutanese and Indian counterparts to accept all the Bhutanese refugees unconditionally. It was the first time that India and Bhutan had appeared positive. Bhutan had agreed to accept at least some refugees. However, instead of repatriating the refugees, it plans to evict more southerners from the country.

The people in Bhutan have often been tortured and harassed for no good reason. Due to lack of agencies to address their sufferings, they cannot be publicised. Moreover, the ill practices of Bhutan rarely reach the concerned authorities due to lack of an independent media to impart factual news. The Kuensel, a mouthpiece of the Druk regime, supports only the king's activities. The two private publications that have recently started, The Bhutan Observer and The Bhutan Times, are also under the clutch of the king. So they have failed to relay uncensored news. Also, there are no human rights agencies to look after and safeguard the rights of the people. The long endeavours of the Nepalese government to repatriate the refugees have not been able to bear any fruit. The steps taken so far to solve the impasse, including the bilateral talks, have turned out ineffective. Hence, the US has proposed third country resettlement. But Bhutan has considered this scheme to be in its favour, and decided to evict more Lhotsampas so that they could also be handled by the western countries.

Conscious people By this time, all the people residing in Bhutan - be they Sarchhops or even Drukpas, or Lhotsampas - have become highly conscious about their rights. They have eventually realised that the people in the refugee camps have been struggling to safeguard their rights as well. It should also be remembered that the Bhutanese - both inside and outside Bhutan - are committed to overthrowing the Wangchhuk dynasty. The united revolt of the people can put an end to any sort of government. The Great Revolt of 1857 in India against the British regime and the popular revolt of the Nepalese in 2006 to restore the rights seized by Gyanendra are common examples.When the Bhutanese political movement started in the early 1990s, only some people participated. The movement also lacked able leaders, and, thus, the movement turned out to a failure, forcing the people to become refugees. There were no inspection teams from human rights activists and other similar agencies. The movement also could not get wide media coverage as the international media did not get the information. The condition has, however, changed now. Slowly, the violation of human rights and other atrocities of the tin pot dictator are being slowly revealed to the outside world. Hence, other members of SAARC and the international community must take immediate action to safeguard the rights of some 100,000 Lhotsampas residing in Bhutan before they are made refugees.

Source: The Rising Nepal, May 29, 2007