Solve The Bhutani Refugee Crisis: Send Them West

Other countries also interested to take in Bhutanese refugees United States .... 60,000 .... Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and other EU countries have inquired about 'quota' related with resettlement of Bhutanese refugees. ...... as per the 15-year-old data, there are 106,000 Bhutanese refugees languishing in Nepal ...... the UNHCR, which considers it provides a real hope for resolving one of the most protracted refugee crises in Asia.

There are 110,000 of them. America will take 60,000. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and others will take the rest. Be done with it. Send them west. Let them have the good life.

Tek Nath Rizal or any political leader may not decide on behalf of the refugess. I don't think the offer by America and others is to pack up the refugees against their will and take them away to some foreign land, far away from home. There is an implicit, explicit suggestion that free will is involved. Noone who does not want to go will be forced to go. That is obvious. But let not these refugees be pawns in the tug of war between an autocratic, ethnicist regime in Bhutan and their democratic opponents like Rizal.

Tek Nath Rizal does not have the authority to say no to the proposal. Who elected him? He does not speak on behalf of the refugees. He can try and convince them to not go, but he may not decide on their behalf.

This refugee crisis b.s. has gone on for too long, and I am sick and tired of it. These people have been living in makeshift conditions. That is not a good life.

I am all for democracy. Bhutan is small fry. We are going to force democracy onto Bhutan, and Burma and Pakistan. But we have to do it the nonviolent way, the smart way.

Take Nepal for an example. The Nepali diaspora played a key role in the April Revolution. The April Revolution could not have happened without the diaspora, plain and simple.

Let these hundred thousand Bhutanese go west, and live the good life, make the dollars, and form the nucleus of a militant - as in nonviolent militancy - democracy movement for Bhutan. Money makes a difference. Go make the money.

Tek Nath Rizal is not making any sense to me. He is hurting his own cause. I think he himself should move to New York to better coordinate the democracy movement. Or he should seek a better arrangement for himself such that he gets to shuttle between New York, Delhi, Kathmandu and Darjeeling.

As long as you stay nonviolent, you can wage your movement from America, from India, from Nepal. Why not? No Indian official will dare get in your way. You circle Bhutan. And then you wage the decisive fight inside Bhutan. And usher democracy. Declare the country a republic. The heck with the kings of the world. Screw Jingme Singme.

I myself would love to get involved in a very personal way. Come on over. We have the experience, and we will happily share. There is a basic formula to spreading democracy and you can have it for free.

This move also will have global implications. Middle East, for example. The two sticklers there are Jerusalem and the refugee issue. There is a need there also to think outside the box. I don't know who in the US foreign policy establishment first came up with this idea - perhaps Moriarty - but that person is a small league genius.

Jerusalem. Take it away from both Israel and Palestine. Hand over its administration to the UN. Make it an international city. Refugees? First find out how many of them want to go back to Israel. Then find out how many of them Israel will take. The difference? Send them out to America, Europe, Australia. Let them have the good life.

Like Lenin said, two steps forward, one step back.

Tek Nath Rizal needs to get out of the way of the sensible solution. Instead he should ride the wave. Get 100,000 Bhutanis out west. Form a strong political organization that encompasses all of them. Have each such person make a voluntary 10% contribution of the money they make out west to that organization, to be administered in a transparent way. Let the organization have periodic internal elections. And go on an all out attack on Jingme. Finish him off. Bhutan needs to become a federal republic.

Who says you have to suffer to wage a successful democracy movement! You could be living in air conditioned aparments, sipping orage juice, watching cable TV, and waging revolution.

So to Tek Nath Rizal I say, get off your butt, and let things move. Move fast.

Bhutanese Refugees site provides authentic information on origin ...
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VOA News - Offer To Resettle Bhutan Refugees

Western countries show green signal for resettling Bhutanese ... People's Daily Online, China
Maoists ‘abduct’ two Bhutanese refugees Nepalnews.com, Nepal
Rizal Turns Down US Proposal to Resettle Bhutanese Refugees Himalayan Times, Nepal
Upcoming talks will be decisive for repatriation of Bhutanese ... Nepalnews.com, Nepal
US to Take Bhutanese Refugees OhmyNews International, South Korea
US offer puts Bhutanese refugees in Nepal in confusion People's Daily Online, China
NEPAL: Bhutanese refugees hesitant over US resettlement offer Reuters AlertNet, UK
US prepared to take in up to 60,000 Bhutanese refugees from Nepal International Herald Tribune, France
US offers to absorb Bhutanese refugees Indian Express, India
US ready to take in 60,000 Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal People's Daily Online, China

In The News

Acharya camp demands special convention in NC NepalNews With the objective of making republic as the major policy of Nepali Congress (NC), campaigners for republic within the party have demanded special general convention or the meeting of Mahasamiti (general committee). ..... Gagan Thapa, a student leader and another leader of the campaign, informed that in order to press party president Girija Prasad Koirala to adopt republican line, 100,000 signatures of active youth members of the party will be submitted to him soon. "If communists alone carry the slogan of republic, neither the republic will come nor peace will be restored. Congress must become republican in order to win the confidence of Nepali people and international community," said Acharya.

Maoists extend ceasefire; talks moving positively: Prachanda NepalNews the main contentious issues – the fate of monarchy and management of Maoist arms
PM Koirala, Prachanda discuss position of monarchy, arms management The eight political parties had given the responsibility of finding consensus on the issue of like monarchy and arms management to Prime Minister Koirala and Maoist supremo Prachanda. .... The SPA has been saying that the fate of monarchy should be decided either through a referendum or elections to the constituent assembly and the Maoists' arms should be managed before the CA polls while the rebels remain firm not to leave any space for the King in the interim constitution and that their arms should be managed only after resolving the political issues. ..... Meanwhile, the CPN-UML, the second largest party in the SPA, has started discussion with other political parties on the unresolved issues..... It was the UML that first floated a proposal of deciding the fate of monarchy through referendum.
PAC recommends impeachment of two SC judges
Decision should not focus on arms management: Former PM Bhattarai Bhattrai further said that weapons should be separated from the Maoists and the government should also set aside its arms. ... Bhattarai said that he met Mahatma Gandhi during his education period in Kashi in 2007 BS. He said that he had urged Gandhi to write a letter to the Ranas in Nepal to release leaders, including BP Koirala, from jail. When the Indian papers, after getting a whiff of Gandhi writing the letter published the news, the Ranas released BP Koirala. .... Bhattarai also demanded the release of Myanmar’s Aung San Suuki .... Prakash Man Singh alleged that Nepali Congress President and Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala is hindering the unity of two congress parties. ...... Deuba had put forward a proposal to carry out necessary homework by constituting a six-member task force- three from each party but Koirala rejected this outright saying that he himself would handle everything, as a result the unification process has gotten nowhere ...... Koirala has been asking us to join his party

Summit talks soon after PM’s return from Biratnagar: Home Minister NepalNews
Republican Front sans NC will be formed, says Gautam "The front will be against monarchy. And if the NC supports monarchy, then it will also be against NC," said Gautam. ..... Hridayesh Tripathy, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, has said that PM Koirala's remarks about the republican front are his personal opinion. "His views would not affect the environment for talks," said Tripathy who had met with Koirala at his residence in Biratnagar on Thursday.
PM says his comment on ‘republican front’ won’t affect SPA unity the Prime Minister said it is his democratic right to express his views. He also urged the party workers not to put unnecessary pressure on him to agree on pro-republic agendas of the communists.
NRN-UK organises interaction; NRNs reiterate demand for dual citizenship
Govt. will feed Maoist armies in cantonments: Minister Chaudhari
Chakkajam was a protest against growing lawlessness: Maoist leader
Chhath festival starts from today
Maoists to go ahead with Republican Front plan despite Koirala's rejection
Next round of talks should be held by Sunday: UML General Secy.
CJ Poudel condemns idea of re-appointment of judges


Siddhartha Thapa

1. As far as the peace talks are concerned, more or less the Maobadis and the SPA have reached a consensus, i.e on most political issues. For example, the fate of monarchy etc will be decided by the constituent assembly elections etc etc. However the talks at the moment have stalled due to the issue of weapons management. Therefore the prospect of the peace talks succeding depends largely on the Maoists stance on arms management.We have recieved credible information that Prachanda in his talks with the Prime Minister had more or less agreed to all isssues including that of weapons of management. But Prachanda changed his stance dramatically after his proposal was turned down by the dominant hard-line fraction with in the Maobadi.
2. UML - the UML is having dilemas vis-a-vis ideological ambiguity. The Maobadis are moving aggressively indoctrinating cadres of UML into their outfit while the top leaders of UML are in dolldrums regarding how to deal with Maobadis. The Maobadis have already exerted their influence into the rank and file of the UML and clear divisions are begining to surface in the UML.
3. The Royalist( Kamal Thapa et all) - The royalist are yearning for adequate political space. There were reports although not verified that about 3-4000 small arms were sneaked into the palace about 3 weeks ago. The Maoist intelligence responded to this revelation by raiding the house of Bikram Thapa( RPP Chairman of Kathmandu). However no arms were found. But a few days later news reports emerged that a royalist outfit through statement circulated to media houses through out the country proclaimed their arrival in the scene of conflict by taking up arms for the king.
4. Maobadis - Desptie some optimism( go back to point 1) that the peace talks might succede and the Maoist should be given adequate space. There are reasons for us to doubt the sincerity of the Maoists. First, I myself saw numerous Maoist check points within the Kathmandu valley. These check points resembled army checkings during the state of emergency. Secondly, the Maoist have started patrolling the streets of Kathmandu while the army remains confined in the barrack.Patan and Balaju Industrial estate have become detention centres and Kangaroo courts of the Maoist. And the Maoist have gone ahead by arresting some notorious gangsters of Kathmandu fearing they might be used against the Maobadis in time.
   But on the political front, the Maobadis have decided on the following :
   • Political parties - divide and rule. Although they have portrayed GPK as the next president, they are simultaneously engaged in talks with other parties. I believe the Maobadis along with the UML have proposed Deuba to lead the Republican Alliance. Hence, the call from Koirala for the early unification of NC to quash the plans of UML and Maobadis. Another important facet is the labelling of political parties as regressive forces should they not toe the Maoist line.
   • Armed forces - The UML too have assimiliated themselves into the Maoist plans of systematically disturbing the balance of security forces. I would not hesitate to label other leftist in this scheme. Their intention is to constantly label NA as human right violators and discredit the army so that when the times comes for deployment, the NA will already be shunned in the eyes of the people. The other might be to instigate the army into action therefore turning the political table against them.
   • Judiciary - The appointment of judges has been delayed for quite some time. In the absence of judges, the judiciary has not been able to function as per the demand. Therefore, people are consequently going to kangaroo courts established by the Maoist for justice ( even in Kathmandu). Secondly, the Maoist indeed have a big hand in the delay of the appointment of judges. However more importantly leftist judges have filed petition against the appointment of army chief, hence bringing about a direct confrontation between the state judiciary and the executive. The Supreme Court has also questioned the legality of the HOR proclomation.
5. The prospect of able backbenchers utility - The good news is that GPK has slowly started to distrsut Sitaula. Sitaula was on the verge of being fired and KP Oli I believe was about to replace him. But the Maoist intervened and objected. Nonetheless the point is that Girija has roped in Arjunnarsingh KC,Dr.Ramsaran Mahat, Ramchandra Poudel, Mahesh Archarya into the talks with the Maoist. At no time is Sitaula left alone in dealing with the Maoist. However, the utility of able backbenchers is still marred due to pending cases at the CIAA. Although most allegations have been cleared for the likes of Khum Bahadur, Govinda Raj etc, their cases are still hinging in the court due to the direct interference of the home minister. I believe direct orders to prolong the cases. These people especially Khum Bahadur and Govinda Raj harbour very anti-maoist and anti-leftist sentiment are very popular within the Nepali Congress.
6. Surya Bahadur Thapa - By far is the major obstacle to the Maoist. The man still exerts influence and respect in the Nepali Congress and with the Indian establishment. His reading is - anarchy- followed by maoist control and then disintergration of the state. The Maoist are systematically aiming to take over politically and the last resort is an urban rising. By this he doesnt mean an urban uprising will not be staged. It will be staged but before that the Maoist will do what so ever politically to control the centre and if that fails last resort is urban uprising. And the issue he has been raising repeatedly is that of the militia. Provided the peace talks do not dwelve in the aspect of containing or disarming the militia, the Maoist will have an overwhelming majority in the CA elections and then write a constitution that will make Nepal a one party communist state. Feb 1st and the 12 point understanding led to a situation where the institution of monarchy was the casualty, secondly, after the HOR proclomation and the 8point agreement the constitution became the casualty and now if proper home work and a strong stance is not take against the Maoist - the third casualty - democracy. It is important rope the maoist into the mainstream, it is the need but however, the parties to have be to equally committed ideologically, politically and strategically in dealing with the Maoist. And then can you compel the Maoist into democratic main stream.
   Why is the issue of disarming militias so critical as proposed by Surya Bahadur Thapa ?
   The PLA has so far fought with the state security forces. But on the other hand, the Maoist militia is the organ through which the party recruits, extorts, abducts and attempts to displine society by instilling fear with the use of guns. There are according to intelligence reports about 25,000 militia through the country armed with small weapons. While the PLA has fought with the state security forces, the Maoist militia is the vital party organ that deals with the people on day to day basis. So even if the PLA is disarmed, it still leaves a large and a potent force of Maoist armed with small weapons. Therefore, should elections come, the Maoist will mobilize their armed goons through out the country and the end result of the elections will tilt in favour of the Maoist. The political parties on the other hand will pose no threat to the Maoist during election campaigns as the Maoist will have an unfair advantage - disposal of small weapons in their hands. Consequently a desired atmosphere for free and fair elections will not surface and the Maoists will barge the elections with an absolute majority. Therefore, the issue of weapons management and that of disarming the militia along with the PLA is the most vital issue in Nepali politics today.
7. The issue of displaced people - There are about eight hundred thousand displaced people in Nepal today. However, it is our thought that along with peace process, those who have been displaced in the conflict should also be rehabilitated during the transitional phase. For free and fair Constituent Assembly elections and for the larger Nepali population to take part in the this democratic exercise, it is essential internal refugees are rehabilitated. Nonetheless the rehabilitation process of the displaced people is not desireable to the Maoist. This is becuase majority of the displaced people fled due to Maoist atrocities and mainly during the initial phases of the war.Majority of Nepali Congress and UML cadres were vindicated by the Maoist as class enemies. The popular slogan of the Maoist needs to be reassrted - "Congress lai khoji khoji, A-MALEY - lai roji roji, RAPRAPA lai sodi, sodi". Therefore, should the rehabilitation process be delayed, genuine voters of Nepali Congress and UML will be deprived from their right to vote. As the Election Commission demands, voters must return to their constituency for voting, these eight hundred thousand refugees who have been refuging in the captial will be denied the right to vote. Hence it is in the interest of the Maoist to delay or altogether sabotage the rehabilitation process of internal refugees.