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FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
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RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 0692
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO PRIORITY 5516
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RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 0806
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 0367
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU PRIORITY 0334
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA PRIORITY 3005
RHMFISS/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 1447
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 2326

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000078 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/11/2017 
TAGS: PREF PREL PGOV BH NP AS
SUBJECT: BHUTANESE REFUGEES: LAYING THE GROUNDWORK 
 
KATHMANDU 00000078  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Charge Nicholas Dean for reasons 1.4(b/d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) In recent meetings with Acting Foreign Secretary 
Bhagirath Basnet, UNHCR Representative Abraham Abraham, and 
Core Group Chair and Australian Ambassador Graeme Lade, 
RefCoord promoted coordinated donor action to encourage the 
Government of Nepal (GON) to adopt a resettlement policy. 
Basnet confirmed that the GON intended to hold at least one 
last bilateral with the Bhutanese government before agreeing 
to third-country resettlement.  UNHCR Abraham reported that 
the census of Beldangi II camp was complete and that the 
census of all seven camps would finish in mid- to late April. 
 Abraham welcomed coordinated donor action to encourage the 
GON to agree to resettlement.  Ambassador Lade agreed in 
principle to send the same message to the GON on resettlement 
and believed other Core Group members, such as the Canadians 
and Dutch, would also be supportive.  Lade believed that 
support for resettlement was widespread, but indicated that 
Australia would wait until after completion of the census to 
make a formal resettlement offer. 
 
Acting Foreign Secretary Gives Nothing Away 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) In a January 8 meeting, Acting Foreign Secretary 
Bhagirath Basnet could not predict when the Government of 
Nepal (GON) would hold the next bilateral discussion on 
Bhutanese refugees with the Royal Government of Bhutan 
(RGOB), noting it would be a political decision and would 
have to wait until the interim Government had been formed. 
RefCoord suggested that the GON pursue two tracks of 
negotiations -- one with the Bhutanese government on 
repatriation and the other with Core Group members on 
resettlement.  (Note:  Earlier, Foreign Ministry Joint 
Secretary Dinesh Bhattarai had suggested this possibility. 
 
SIPDIS 
End Note.)  Basnet replied that only after the bilateral was 
held could the GON make a decision on resettlement.  In a 
later meeting, Australian Ambassador Graeme Lade noted his 
discussions with Basnet had also "drawn a blank," revealing 
no progress on scheduling the GON-RGOB bilateral or movement 
on adopting a resettlement policy. 
 
UNHCR Reports Progress on Census, Urges Core Group 
Coordination 
--------------------------------------------- ----------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) In a January 9 meeting with UNHCR Country 
Representative Abraham Abraham, RefCoord learned that, 
although the UNHCR - GON census in the camps had been running 
efficiently, the census would likely finish in mid- to late 
April rather than the earlier target of mid-March.  Abraham 
praised the GON's high level of cooperation, noting that 
local Home Ministry officials had gone out of their way to 
ensure a smooth operation.  Abraham hoped to finalize the 
census assessment report by the end of May. 
 
¶4. (SBU) RefCoord explained that the U.S. might soon extend a 
formal offer to the GON, and seek concurrence for a U.S. 
resettlement program.  Abraham welcomed this news, opining 
that additional pressure on the GON to move forward with 
resettlement was necessary.  He stated his preference for 
coordinated Core Group action on this proposal. 
 
Australian Ambassador Supportive of U.S. Message 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶5. (C) On January 10, RefCoord met with Australian Ambassador 
to Nepal (and Core Group Chair), Graeme Lade at his 
invitation to discuss coordinated Core Group action to urge 
the GON to formulate a resettlement policy.  RefCoord 
described the U.S. intention to make a formal resettlement 
offer and asked whether Australia might soon make a similar 
offer.  While Lade said his government was not ready to make 
 
KATHMANDU 00000078  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
a concrete offer, he agreed in principle to sending the same 
message to the GON that it should move forward soon on 
resettlement.  He noted the GON's desire to hold at least one 
last bilateral meeting with the RGOB before moving forward on 
resettlement, however.  Lade agreed with RefCoord that, if 
Foreign Minster K.P. Oli were to keep his Cabinet position in 
an interim Government, the bilateral would be a box-checking 
exercise, after which the GON would likely move forward with 
resettlement.  The assumption was that the GON had little 
hope of securing RGOB agreement on repatriation. 
 
Growing Support For Resettlement 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Lade believed that there was growing support from all 
sides of the issue for a resettlement program.  Specifically, 
he described a recent communication to the Australian High 
Commission in New Delhi from the RGOB supporting 
third-country resettlement.  (Note: The RGOB has also 
communicated the same in a written letter to the Danish 
Embassy in New Delhi.  End Note.)  He also noted that, during 
the November Core Group visit to the refugee camps in 
southeastern Nepal, the seven camp Secretaries had appeared 
united in their support for third-country resettlement. 
RefCoord, however, noted the set back from the Bhutanese 
Foreign Minister's recent comments to Bhutan's Parliament 
that repatriation of Bhutanese refugees would be equivalent 
to importing terrorists.  Within the refugee community, this 
had re-ignited the desire to hold the RGOB accountable for 
the expulsion as well as negative feelings towards 
resettlement. 
 
More Resettlement Numbers Needed 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) RefCoord noted that the ongoing census in the camps 
would not result in a dramatically reduced number of 
refugees; contrary to previous predictions, and that the Core 
Group needed to find a solution for roughly 105,000 persons. 
With the U.S. offer to take 60,000 and perhaps another 20,000 
to Canada and Australia, the fate of roughly 25,000 refugees 
remained undecided.  Lade indicated that his government would 
wait until after the census was complete before offering to 
resettle a specific number of Bhutanese refugees.  However, 
he suspected that Australia would eventually agree to a 
four-year program processing between 1,000 - 3,000 refugees 
annually.  Lade agreed to press the GON on resettlement and 
believed that other Core Group members, such as the Dutch and 
Canadians, would also be supportive. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (C) In previous meetings with the Ambassador, Foreign 
Minister K.P. Oli had agreed that, after one more bilateral 
discussion with the RGOB, he would be ready to support 
development of a resettlement policy.  A formal U.S. offer to 
resettle 60,000 Bhutanese refugees would provide FM Oli with 
ammunition to take to the Council of Ministers, would place 
additional pressure on the GON to move forward with 
scheduling the bilateral, and would eliminate a frequent GON 
claim that the U.S. has not informed Kathmandu "officially" 
of our resettlement offer.  Post believes a formal U.S. 
request now for GON agreement on resettlement is necessary to 
get the ball rolling.  The GON bureaucracy is world class -- 
we should expect the formulation of a resettlement policy to 
take six months or longer.  Australia's support for a common 
Core Group message advocating formulation of a GON 
resettlement policy is positive; Australia could be a 
potential ally in Geneva.  Post will continue to coordinate 
actions with Core Group members in Kathmandu to the maximum 
extent possible. 
DEAN