VZCZCXRO9797
PP RUEHCI
DE RUEHKT #0919/01 1291148
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 091148Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5847
INFO RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 5320
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 1228
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO PRIORITY 6007
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 5701
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 4029
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 1404
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY 0277
RUEHCP/AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN PRIORITY 0346
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 0383
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 0203
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA PRIORITY 3445
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 1630
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 2659

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000919 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PREL PGOV BT NP
SUBJECT: SOLIDIFYING NEPAL'S SUPPORT FOR BHUTANESE REFUGEE 
RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM 
 
REF: KATHMANDU 809 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) During their visit to Nepal April 23 - 28, 
Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) Deputy Director for 
Asia and the Near East Larry Bartlett and PRM Deputy Director 
for Admissions Jan Belz met with key Government of Nepal 
(GON) officials to solidify GON support for the Bhutanese 
refugee resettlement program.  UNHCR Country Representative 
Abraham Abraham agreed to launch an information campaign on 
third-country resettlement in the refugee camps and to 
provide the U.S. with 5,000 referrals (roughly 750 cases) by 
mid-July.  Refugee community leaders expressed support for 
the U.S. resettlement program while randomly-selected focus 
group discussions with refugees in the camps revealed a high 
level of interest in the program.  Bartlett and Belz briefed 
Core Group Ambassadors on U.S. resettlement plans, which they 
said might encourage their own capitals to move quickly on 
similar resettlement offers.  A U.S. fact sheet on 
resettlement was released to the media at a press briefing 
April 26 and is now posted on the U.S. Embassy website. 
 
Nepal To Pursue Resettlement, Repatriation Simultaneously 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) In a meeting April 23 with Acting Foreign Secretary 
Gyan Chandra Acharya, PRM Deputy Director for Asia and the 
Near East Larry Bartlett expressed appreciation for the 
Government of Nepal's (GON's) agreement to proceed with 
third-country resettlement of Bhutanese refugees.  The U.S. 
would continue to urge the Royal Government of Bhutan (RGOB) 
to repatriate eligible refugees, he added.  Acharya welcomed 
the U.S. resettlement offer, but noted that repatriation 
would be necessary since resettlement would not offer a 
solution for all refugees.  Bartlett assured him that the 
U.S. was committed to consider for resettlement all 
interested refugees no matter if that number exceeded 60,000. 
 On April 26, Foreign Ministry Joint Secretary for UN Affairs 
Dinesh Bhattarai emphasized GON interest in holding the RGOB 
accountable for evicting its citizens and ensuring that at 
least a small number could repatriate to Bhutan.  Bhattarai 
also indicated GON willingness to cooperate fully with U.S. 
resettlement plans.  Both Acharya and Bhattarai suggested the 
GON would seek a bilateral meeting with the RGOB as soon as 
possible, perhaps within the next three months. 
 
The U.S. Resettlement Program in a Nutshell 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) On April 26, Bartlett and PRM Deputy Director for 
Admissions Jan Belz briefed GON officials from the Foreign 
and Home Ministries and the Director General of Immigration 
on U.S. resettlement plans.  The Bureau for Population, 
Refugees and Migration would select an implementing partner 
for the Overseas Processing Entity (OPE) in mid-May; the OPE 
would open an office in Kathmandu by mid-July, at which time 
it would take responsibility for processing the urban refugee 
caseload.  In early September, the OPE would open a 
sub-office near the refugee camps in Jhapa District in 
southeastern Nepal to begin pre-screening refugees. 
Following pre-screening, U.S. immigration officials would 
visit Nepal to interview every family.  After approval, every 
refugee would undergo medical screening before admittance to 
the U.S.  Belz anticipated that the first group of refugees 
could board a plane for the U.S. in January/February 2008. 
In FY2008, the U.S. hoped to receive 7,000 Bhutanese refugees 
and as many as 15,000 in subsequent years, she added.  The 
program could last for six or seven years depending upon the 
refugees' level of interest.  None of the GON officials 
objected to this schedule. 
 
KATHMANDU 00000919  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
U.S. Fact Sheet and GON Exit Permit Procedures 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶4. (SBU) In both Foreign Ministry meetings, Bartlett 
requested that the GON approve public dissemination of the 
U.S. resettlement program fact sheet.  Acting Foreign 
Secretary Acharya noted the political sensitivity of 
 
SIPDIS 
discussing local integration of the refugees and asked 
Bartlett to delete mention of this option.  Acharya also 
emphasized the need to affirm that repatriation remained a 
desirable solution for the refugees.  Bartlett agreed on both 
counts.  In the later meeting, Joint Secretary Bhattarai 
agreed that the fact sheet could be publicly disseminated at 
the press briefing that same day.  Noting the long delays in 
processing vulnerable Bhutanese refugees for exit permits, 
RefCoord requested the GON officials to consider exempting 
the Bhutanese refugees from the Nepali regulation that 
required a travel document before issuance of exit permits. 
She noted that the GON had made this exemption for Tibetans 
transiting Nepal.  The GON attendees agreed that the current 
process needed to be streamlined and planned to review their 
exit permit procedures in coming weeks. 
 
UNHCR Gears Up For Large-Scale Resettlement 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Bartlett and Belz met April 23 with UNHCR Country 
Representative Abraham Abraham and UNHCR Durable Solutions 
Officer Kim Roberson and, April 27, with visiting UNHCR 
Deputy Director for International Protection Vincent 
Cochetel.  Both Abraham and Cochetel agreed that UNHCR would 
provide the first tranche of 5,000 referrals (roughly 750 
cases) in early July.  He suggested that UNHCR might draw the 
first batch of referrals from two groups:  first, roughly 
25,000 refugees were identified during the UNHCR-GON census 
with special needs or vulnerabilities, such as torture 
victims, single women heads-of-household, or under age 25 
heads-of-household; and second, roughly 4,000 refugees had 
submitted informal applications for U.S. resettlement. 
Cochetel and Roberson were reluctant to use those refugees 
who had submitted applications as they disproportionately 
represented the well-educated, high-caste segment of the 
population. 
 
Refugees Support Third-Country Resettlement 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) On April 24 and 25, Bartlett and Belz met with 
several Bhutanese refugee leaders and visited two refugee 
camps (Beldangi 2 and Goldhap) in Jhapa District where they 
met with the Camp Management Committees and randomly-selected 
focus groups representing particular demographics in the 
camps, such as young men, young women, and victims of 
torture.  In all the meetings, refugees asked numerous 
questions about U.S. resettlement.  The refugee community 
leaders, all of whom had expressed reluctance for 
resettlement in previous years, welcomed the U.S. 
resettlement offer.  They emphasized the need for refugees to 
make well-informed decisions and requested more information 
about the U.S. program.  Belz assured them that the U.S. 
intended to work closely with UNHCR to ensure refugees were 
well-informed. 
 
Core Group Encouraged By U.S. Resettlement Timeline 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) On April 26, Bartlett and Belz briefed Core Group 
Ambassadors from Australia, Denmark, and Norway as well as 
the local Canadian Cooperation Officer on U.S. resettlement 
plans.  The group responded positively.  Australian 
Ambassador, and local Core Group Chairman, Graeme Lade 
 
KATHMANDU 00000919  003 OF 003 
 
 
indicated that Canberra would decide on its 2007 refugee 
quota in May and could begin its process as early as July. 
The Canadian representative Ed Doe was not certain when 
Ottawa would be ready to announce resettlement numbers and 
agreed to revert to his capital on this issue.  Norwegian 
Ambassador Tore Toreng noted that his government had extended 
the deadline for processing a number of vulnerable Bhutanese 
refugees that were waiting for GON exit permission. 
 
Extensive Media Coverage on U.S. Resettlement Program 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Bartlett and Belz held a press conference April 26 
with print and broadcast journalists representing both 
English and vernacular media.  The PRM team distributed the 
U.S. fact sheet on resettlement at the briefing.  Newspaper 
articles published the following day highlighted the U.S. 
commitment to allow all interested refugees to apply for U.S. 
resettlement, no matter whether that number exceeded 60,000. 
The media coverage was positive and demonstrated the popular 
appeal of U.S. resettlement. 
 
Comment: Next Steps 
------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU)  PRM's visit to Nepal went far to solidify GON and 
refugee support for third-country resettlement.  The positive 
response to U.S. resettlement was overwhelming and nearly 
universal.  However, some challenges remain.  An effective 
information campaign on resettlement will be critical in 
preventing pro-repatriation groups in the camps from gaining 
momentum.  Much work remains to be done in streamlining the 
GON exit permission process, which now requires months to 
complete.  Post will use the small group of vulnerable 
Bhutanese refugees, who will undergo pre-screening April 15 - 
16, as a test case for a revamped exit permit process. 
 
HUGINS