| Kathmandu,
September 2, 2003) -- The screening of Bhutanese refugees
by the governments of Bhutan and Nepal is fundamentally
flawed, a joint mission of non-governmental organizations
said at the end of a two-week mission to India and
Nepal.
As Nepal and Bhutan prepared for further talks next
week, the delegation urged donor governments to insist
the process meet international human rights and refugee
standards.
"The refugee screening process violates every
international norm in the book," said Rachael
Reilly, refugee policy advisor with Human Rights Watch.
The mission visited the Bhutanese refugee camps in
southeast Nepal, where more than 100,000 refugees
live in seven camps. They have been there since the
1990s, when they were arbitrarily stripped of their
nationality and forcibly expelled from Bhutan. Nearly
one-sixth of Bhutan's population was forced to flee
the country at that time, making Bhutan one of the
highest per capita generators of refugees in the world.
Since March 2001 the governments of Bhutan and Nepal
have been screening the refugees in Khudunabari camp
- population 12,000 - to determine their identities
and their reasons for leaving Bhutan. The results
of the screening, announced on June 18, 2003, will
be used in determining the refugees' fate.
Refugees interviewed by the mission told of serious
anomalies and failings in the verification process.
These include:
- Refugees were forced to recount their reasons for
leaving Bhutan to officials of the same government
responsible for their persecution and flight;
- The criteria for categorizing refugees is not made
public, so the refugees cannot effectively appeal
their classification;
- The majority of the refugees (70%) were classified
as "voluntary migrants" after signing "voluntary
migration forms" under duress when leaving Bhutan;
- Many refugees in this category told the delegation
that they were forced to flee discrimination, arbitrary
detention, sexual violence, and threats to their physical
safety in Bhutan;
- In some cases, members of the same family have been
placed in different categories, even though their
reasons for fleeing Bhutan are identical, so they
risk separation in the event of repatriation
- Some of the children born in the refugee camps have
been classified as so-called "criminals"
and could be liable to stand trial in Bhutan;
- Some refugees who were minors in Bhutan and thus
were not given identity documents have been classified
as non-Bhutanese, even though their parents possess
identity papers and have been put in different categories;
- The joint screening team only interviewed male heads
of households, denying women the opportunity to have
their claims fairly considered;
- There were no women on the joint screening team
for most of the review process;
Refugees were divided into the following categories:
- Category I - Bona fide Bhutanese citizens (293 people
- just 2.5 percent of the refugee population);
- Category II - Refugees who supposedly "voluntarily"
migrated from Bhutan (8,595 people, or 70 percent
of the refugees);
- Category III - Non-Bhutanese (2,948 people, or 24
percent of the refugees);
- Category IV - Refugees who have committed "criminal"
acts, including those who participated in so-called
"anti-national" (pro-
democracy) activities in Bhutan (347 people, or 3
percent of the refugees).
"This process simply does not stand up to scrutiny
under international law," said Peter Prove, Assistant
to the General Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation.
"Refugees have been classified as "criminals"
in the absence of clear charges or any semblance of
a trial, and apparently in punishment for exercising
their fundamental rights to freedom of expression
and association."
Category II is similarly flawed. All the refugees
classified as so- called "voluntary migrants"
told the mission that they signed so-called "voluntary
migration forms" under duress when they were
expelled from Bhutan. Many were unaware of the content
of these forms and that signing them would result
in their loss of citizenship under Bhutanese law.
"Under international law everyone has the right
to leave and return to their own country," said
Ralston Deffenbaugh, President of the Lutheran Immigration
and Refugee Service. "Bhutan's policies clearly
violate this right."
According to the last round of talks between Bhutan
and Nepal in May 2003, refugees in Category II will
be required to reapply for
citizenship after a minimum probationary period of
two years upon returning to Bhutan. But successful
applicants will have to meet
stringent requirements including fluency in Dzongkha,
which is spoken mainly in northern Bhutan. Since most
refugees from Southern Bhutan speak only Nepali, this
requirement would mean that tens of thousands of refugees
would be unable to re-acquire citizenship and could
be rendered stateless.
A fifteenth round of talks between Bhutan and Nepal
is due to begin on September 8. The delegation called
on Bhutan and Nepal to address the inconsistencies
and inadequacies in the screening process. They urged
the following modifications:
- All refugees in Categories I, II and IV should be
able to return to Bhutan in safety and dignity, with
full citizenship rights, and to their original lands
and properties;
- Refugees in Category III should have access to a
full, fair and independent appeal process;
- All anomalies in the process (such as members of
the same family placed in different categories) must
be investigated by an independent third party;
- Future screening should be according to two categories
only:
Bhutanese and non-Bhutanese. Those classified as Bhutanese
should be able to return to Bhutan with full citizenship
rights. Those classified as non-Bhutanese should have
access to a full, fair and independent appeal process.
- Women should have full access to the verification
process in order to assess their claims independently
and fairly and the Joint
Verification Team should include female interviewers;
- Screening and repatriation should not proceed without
the presence of an independent third party. Given
its international refugee
protection mandate, this should be UNHCR;
- Refugee representatives should be included at all
stages of the repatriation process.
"The international community must insist on a
speedy, just, and lasting solution for the Bhutanese
refugees," said Malavika Vartak, of Habitat International
Coalition. "They should not endorse or support
a process that would violate the refugees' rights."
Delegation members:
Rachael Reilly, Human Rights Watch
Peter Prove, Lutheran World Federation
Fr. Varkey Perekkatt S.J., Jesuit Refugee Service
Malavika Vartak, Habitat International Coalition -
Housing and Land
Rights Network Ralston Deffenbaugh, Lutheran Immigration
and Refugee Service
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