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P 201240Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000809 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/2017 
TAGS: PREF PREL PGOV BT IN NP
SUBJECT: CORE GROUP MEETS WITH FOREIGN MINISTER ON 
BHUTANESE REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT 
 
REF: KATHMANDU 755 
 
Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty for reasons 1.4(b/d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) In a meeting April 20 with Foreign Minister Sahana 
Pradhan, members of the Core Group representing the U.S., 
Australia, Canada, Denmark and Norway laid out the basis for 
technical discussions on third-country resettlement of 
Bhutanese refugees.  FM Pradhan emphasized the need to 
repatriate at least some refugees to Bhutan, but ultimately 
committed to moving forward simultaneously with a 
resettlement program.  She expressed concern that a residual 
population of refugees, who either were uninterested or 
unable to resettle abroad, would be left behind.  All the 
Core Group participants agreed to continue to press the Royal 
Government of Bhutan to allow eligible refugees to repatriate. 
 
Core Group Chair Briefs FM Pradhan on Activities 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶2. (C) Representatives of the Core Group met April 20 with 
Foreign Minister Sahana Pradhan, Acting Foreign Secretary 
Gyan Chandra Acharya and other Foreign and Home Ministry 
officials to reconfirm the Government of Nepal's (GON) 
commitment to proceed with third-country resettlement. 
Ambassador Moriarty and RefCoord attended the meeting along 
with Core Group Chairman and Australian Ambassador Graeme 
Lade, Norwegian Ambassador Tore Toreng, Danish Ambassador 
Finn Thilsted, and Canadian Cooperation Office Director Ed 
Doe.  Lade told FM Pradhan that the Core Group had become 
energized roughly two years ago because of growing concern 
that resolution of the Bhutanese refugee situation was no 
closer than when the problem began 16 years ago.  Donor 
fatigue had begun to set in, he added.  Lade acknowledged 
Nepal's contributions, particularly in conducting the census 
and providing exit permits for vulnerable cases.  He welcomed 
Prime Minister Koirala's agreement, provided to the U.S. 
Ambassador, to proceed with third-country resettlement.  The 
Core Group would continue to urge the Royal Government of 
Bhutan (RGOB) to repatriate eligible refugees and to ensure 
respect for the rights of Nepali ethnic groups living in 
Bhutan, but would like to see repatriation and resettlement 
proceed simultaneously.  "We want the refugees to know there 
is a light at the end of the tunnel," he concluded. 
 
Bhutan Is Not Planning on Repatriation 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) Ambassadors Toreng and Thilsted noted that Bhutan's 
reaction at the South Asian Association for Regional 
Cooperation (SAARC) Summit in New Delhi and to the Danish 
demarche delivered in Thimpu in March had indicated that the 
RGOB was not genuinely considering repatriation of the 
refugees.  Thilsted questioned whether the refugees 
themselves still had an interest in returning to Bhutan 
considering that the RGOB had not changed its attitude toward 
ethnic Nepali groups. 
 
Nepal Wants Continued Push for Repatriation 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) The Foreign Minister agreed that the situation of 
Bhutanese refugees in Nepal was a very serious and 
long-standing problem that needed to be addressed.  The GON's 
first priority was to repatriate at least those refugees who 
were forcibly evicted from Bhutan.  On the other hand, she 
said, if the Bhutanese refugees wanted to resettle to a third 
country, they could.  Pradhan worried, however, that 
repatriation would never happen if resettlement moved forward 
now.  When the Bhutanese Foreign Minister had indicated in 
 
KATHMANDU 00000809  002 OF 003 
 
 
New Delhi that Bhutan was too busy constructing democracy to 
discuss the refugees, Pradhan had questioned the validity of 
democracy in Bhutan if Bhutanese citizens remained outside 
the country, excluded from the process.  Resettlement was a 
secondary solution, Pradhan concluded. 
 
Comprehensive Solution Needs To Include Residual Population 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
¶5. (C) The Foreign Minister appreciated the U.S. offer to 
accept 60,000 refugees with perhaps another 10,000 refugees 
to be resettled in other countries.  "But what about the 
other 35,000 refugees?" she asked.  FM Pradhan said that the 
Government of India (GOI) had agreed  at the SAARC Summit to 
"think about" the problem of a residual refugee population. 
Acting Foreign Secretary Acharya suggested that Nepal, Bhutan 
and the international community needed to view the issue in 
its entirety and focus on a comprehensive solution that met 
the needs of all the refugees.  He feared that the RGOB would 
regard third-country resettlement as a comprehensive solution 
when it was not.  Acharya said not all refugees would be able 
to participate in or be interested in resettlement.  Nepal 
needed to find a way to repatriate those who wanted to return 
home.  Acharya hoped the Core Group would continue to help 
Nepal push Bhutan on this issue.  Ambassador Lade 
acknowledged that a residual population could remain, but he 
believed the number would be small.  FM Pradhan replied that 
the refugee issue was truly Bhutan's problem and Bhutan 
needed to accept responsibility.  Resettlement was a good 
solution, she added, but not the only solution.  Lade agreed 
and said that the Core Group was determined not to allow the 
RGOB off the hook.  Ambassador Moriarty also agreed that the 
Core Group would continue to press Bhutan on repatriation, 
but he did not believe that the RGOB, after sixteen years, 
had any intention of repatriating the refugees.  The 
Ambassador suggested that, if Nepal were to tie resettlement 
to progress on repatriation, then no refugee would see a 
solution to their problem. 
 
A Second Wave of Expulsions? 
---------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Secretary Acharya worried, however, that third-country 
resettlement could result in a second wave of expulsions from 
Bhutan.  Danish Ambassador Thilsted noted that his government 
had raised this concern with the RGOB, which had indicated 
further expulsions would not happen.  Thilsted suggested that 
the donor community would not continue funding assistance to 
the refugees forever and urged Nepal to move ahead now with 
resettlement.  Acharya again said that the offer of 
resettlement was positive, but that not all the refugees 
would be able to resettle.  He stated that the GON needed to 
discuss this further. 
 
The Prime Minister Gave His Commitment 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) Ambassador Moriarty said forcefully that Prime 
Minister Koirala had committed on three separate occasions, 
most recently on April 13, to allow third-country 
resettlement to proceed.  On that basis, he said, the U.S. 
was choosing an implementing partner that would set up a 
processing center in Kathmandu in July and begin processing 
cases in September.  The Ambassador asked whether the GON 
bureaucracy was suggesting that it would not implement the 
PM's commitment.  Ambassador Thilsted said that his 
understanding of the PM's commitment was the same.  The 
Foreign Minister replied that Nepal only wanted assurances 
that the Core Group would continue to press for repatriation 
while pursuing resettlement.  The Ambassador agreed. 
 
The Way Forward 
--------------- 
 
KATHMANDU 00000809  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶8. (C)  Ambassador Moriarty suggested that the focus should 
now be on discussing procedural and operational issues for 
resettlement.  The U.S. wanted UNHCR to initiate an 
information campaign about resettlement in the refugee camps 
as soon as the census was finished.  He noted that the U.S. 
would resettle the refugees in family groups and would not 
discriminate on the basis of age, gender or education. 
Certain exclusions would apply, such as specific communicable 
diseases or a criminal record.  Secretary Acharya noted that 
the GON might soon request a ministerial meeting with the 
RGOB in Thimpu to push for a comprehensive solution.  All of 
the Ambassadors agreed to continue to press the RGOB to 
repatriate eligible refugees, but in the meantime all wanted 
to initiate technical discussions on resettlement procedures 
and regulations.  Ambassador Moriarty noted that a technical 
team from the State Department's Bureau of Population, 
Refugees and Migration would be on the ground the week of 
April 23 to begin this dialogue for the U.S. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶9. (C) Opposition within the Foreign Ministry to 
third-country resettlement is unsurprising considering that a 
series of Foreign Ministers have tried repeatedly since the 
1990s, without success, to hold Bhutan accountable for its 
actions.  The GON is rightfully concerned about finding a 
solution for those refugees who are either not able to 
participate, or not interested, in resettlement.  It is also 
only appropriate that Foreign Minister Pradhan is pressing 
the Core Group to keep pushing Bhutan on repatriation.  But 
now is the time to start preparing for something that Nepal 
and the donors can accomplish, namely resettlement.  With the 
Foreign Ministry's agreement to initiate technical 
discussions on resettlement, we look forward to PRM's visit 
next week. 
MORIARTY