VZCZCXRO3636
PP RUEHCI
DE RUEHKT #0620/01 0821116
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 231116Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5380
INFO RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 5166
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 1052
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO PRIORITY 5843
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 5544
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 3859
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 1213
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 0371
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY 0271
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA PRIORITY 3300
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/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 1574
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 2535

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000620 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PREL PGOV BT EU SAARC NP
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON BHUTANESE REFUGEES; MEETING WITH EU 
DELEGATION 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) At the Kathmandu-based Core Group meeting March 22, 
the Ambassador detailed his earlier discussions with Prime 
Minister Koirala, Home Minister Sitaula and Foreign Minister 
Oli on resettlement of Bhutanese refugees.  UNHCR Resident 
Representative Abraham expressed concern about the activities 
of militant groups in the refugee camps.  He indicated that 
UNHCR would finish the census in mid- to late-April and hoped 
to begin distribution of refugee ID cards shortly thereafter. 
 UN High Commissioner Guterres may visit Nepal May 22-23. 
WFP Country Director Ragan reported that Swiss and Dutch 
contributions had secured the food supply to the refugees 
through June.  Abraham later reported to RefCoord that 
Foreign Minister Oli had told him March 22 that the meeting 
with the Bhutanese at the South Asian Association for 
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit would resolve this issue 
"once and for all."  According to an EU Parliamentary 
delegation, Bhutan's Prime Minister had welcomed the U.S. 
resettlement offer.  Bhutanese officials also had indicated 
that Bhutan did not intend to repatriate any refugees from 
Nepal. 
 
Update on Progress With Nepal and Bhutan 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) At a meeting March 22 of the Kathmandu-based Core 
Group, Australian Ambassador Graeme Lade asked the Ambassador 
to provide an update on U.S. progress toward developing a 
resettlement program.  The Ambassador detailed his meetings 
with the Prime Minister March 10 and with Home Minister 
Sitaula and Foreign Minister Oli on February 26, including 
Prime Minister Koirala's renewal of his decision to allow 
third-country resettlement.  Oli, he noted, wanted to hold 
one more meeting with his Bhutanese counterpart, likely on 
the margins of the SAARC Summit April 3-4, before proceeding 
with resettlement.  Lade, who had spoken that morning with 
the Danish Deputy Chief of Mission in Kathmandu, reported 
that the Danish mission in Thimpu intended to deliver the 
joint Core Group demarche to the Royal Government of Bhutan 
(RGOB) on March 26.  The Ambassador agreed to help arrange a 
joint Core Group meeting in mid-April with the Home and 
Foreign Ministers to discuss resettlement procedures.  Lade 
planned to invite Core Group members not present in Kathmandu 
(the Dutch, Canadian and New Zealand Embassies) during his 
visit to New Delhi March 26-29. 
 
UNHCR Concerned About Camp Security 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) UNHCR Resident Representative Abraham Abraham said 
he planned to meet with Foreign Minister Oli that afternoon 
to urge the Government of Nepal (GON) to provide adequate 
security in the refugee camps.  Abraham expressed concern 
that radical groups, such as the Communist Party of Bhutan 
(CPB), were becoming increasingly violent toward refugees 
supporting resettlement.  He said that CPB members attacked 
five refugees in Beldangi II camp March 21.  UNHCR had 
identified some 10 refugee youth who may have connections 
with the CPB.  He planned to meet with the youth at the UNHCR 
sub-office in Jhapa District to discourage further violence. 
 
Census Update, UNHCR Guterres To Visit 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Abraham reported that UNHCR and the GON had begun 
the census in Timai camp and after finishing there would move 
directly to the final camp, Khudunabari.  He expected to 
finish the census in mid- to late-April and would share the 
final results with donors by mid-May.  Abraham was interested 
in initiating distribution of refugee ID cards immediately 
following the census.  He could not provide a time estimate 
 
KATHMANDU 00000620  002 OF 003 
 
 
for completion because the GON had not agreed upon a format 
for the ID card.  High Commissioner Antonio Guterres planned 
to visit Nepal, including the refugee camps, on May 22-23, 
Abraham said, adding that Guterres would also visit Bhutan 
during his trip. 
 
Protection Update 
----------------- 
 
¶5. (U) Abraham stated that the situation in Sanischare camp, 
following the clash February 22 between local villagers and 
refugees, had improved since the Jhapa Chief District Officer 
(CDO) had established a committee to investigate the 
incident.  The Deputy CDO, Deputy Superintendent of Police, 
UNHCR Sub-Office Director, Sanischare Camp Secretary, the 
local forest user group committee chairperson, and an 
attorney sat on the committee.  Abraham confirmed that the 
local Nepalese community was allowing refugee students to 
attend school outside the camp, but otherwise movement in and 
out of the camp remained restricted.  The local community 
continued to demand that Sanischare camp be moved to another 
location.  Abraham suggested that, as a result, perhaps 
Sanischare camp should be the first camp to participate in 
the resettlement program. 
 
World Food Program Update 
------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) World Food Program (WFP) Country Director Richard 
Ragan reported that WFP had reduced lentil distribution to 
the Bhutanese refugees by 1/3 (from 60 grams to 40 grams per 
person per day) due to supply problems.  He anticipated the 
reduction would last roughly 4-6 weeks until the next 
shipment was received.  Ragan indicated that Switzerland (USD 
410,000) and the Netherlands (USD 617,000) had earmarked 
contributions to WFP that secured the food supply to the 
refugees through June.  Norwegian Ambassador Tore Toreng 
suggested that Norway might have funds for the food program 
available in October or November.  Abraham expressed concern 
that the European Union, a large contributor to the food 
program in the past, had decided to reduce its contributions 
by 25 percent this year. 
 
UNHCR Abraham's Meeting with Foreign Minister 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU)  Abraham told RefCoord March 23 that, in his meeting 
March 22, Foreign Minister Oli had confirmed the GON intended 
to discuss the refugees with the RGOB on the margins of the 
SAARC Summit in New Delhi April 3-4.  Oli had hoped this 
would resolve the issue "once and for all."  According to 
Abraham, Oli said that Nepal would only agree to a sixteenth 
round of negotiations if Bhutan agreed to immediately start 
repatriation of eligible refugees.  Abraham also requested 
the GON approve exit permits for the 36 Bhutanese vulnerable 
individuals who had been accepted for third-country 
resettlement.  (Note: Home Ministry Deputy Coordinator for 
Refugee Affairs Shankar Koirala told RefCoord March 22 that 
he had forwarded the 36 cases to the sub-office in Jhapa for 
processing.  He anticipated the sub-office would approve 
these cases within two weeks, after which he would send the 
cases to the Foreign Ministry for travel documents.  End 
Note.) 
 
EU Parliament Members Visit Bhutan 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The Ambassador met separately March 22 with a 
five-member delegation from the European Parliament who had 
just arrived from Thimpu.  The head of delegation, Neena 
Gill, reported that Bhutanese Prime Minister Khandu Wangchuk 
had claimed that progress on the refugees had stalled because 
the GON had kept changing the goalposts.  Bhutan was unhappy 
 
KATHMANDU 00000620  003 OF 003 
 
 
that the GON was defining the issue as one between Bhutan and 
the refugees, not involving Nepal.  The RGOB, she said, was 
not willing to restart bilateral negotiations afresh.  The 
RGOB had welcomed the U.S. resettlement offer, Gill added. 
 
Bhutan Not Willing to Repatriate Refugees 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) The Ambassador described to the European MPs Prime 
Minister Koirala's agreement to proceed with a large-scale 
resettlement program and the issuance February 13 of the U.S. 
"Request for Proposals."  He indicated that the next step was 
to formulate resettlement procedures at the working level 
with the Home and Foreign Ministries.  The Ambassador pointed 
out that he had seen no indications that the RGOB intended to 
allow any repatriation to occur.  Perhaps that was because if 
the RGOB were to permit refugees to return to their homes in 
Bhutan, that could be seen as an admission of guilt for 
having ethnically cleansed nearly one-sixth of Bhutan's 
population in the early 1990s.  Separately, the EU Parliament 
Foreign Policy advisor Xavier Nuttin told RefCoord that the 
RGOB had made it clear to the delegation that it did not 
intend to repatriate any refugees from Nepal. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) From the EU delegates report from Thimpu, it 
appears that the RGOB has not changed its position on 
repatriation of the refugees.  We do not expect any progress 
on this issue at the SAARC Summit in New Delhi next month. 
If, however, the talks make it possible for the Government of 
Nepal, and the Foreign Ministry specifically, to move ahead 
with planning for a resettlement program, we will consider 
the meeting a success. 
 
MORIARTY