Three new refugees who were expelled from Bhutan and arrived in Nepal were arrested on Saturday.
Refugees residing in the Beldangi camp in Jhapa say this incident has raised concerns that the Bhutanese refugee issue, ongoing for over three decades, might flare up again. The three individuals arrested from the Beldangi camp had been deported from the United States.
After Donald Trump was elected president for a second term, he has adopted strict policies toward immigrants, continuously deporting immigrants from various countries. Some Nepalis have also been deported and have returned.
In this context, the US government deported 10 Bhutanese refugees back to Bhutan routing them through India. Although the Trump administration sent these 10 refugees back to their original country, Bhutan, the Bhutanese government refused to accept them.
Just as the Bhutanese government had expelled Nepali-speaking Bhutanese citizens 35 years ago by stripping them of citizenship, it has once again expelled these 10 individuals who were deported from the US
On Friday, as soon as they landed at Bhutan’s Paro International Airport, they were fed and then taken to Phuntsholing, a border town with India, and released. From there, they entered Nepal via the Panitanki border. Three of these Bhutanese refugees reached the Beldangi camp Friday night.
When we spoke to Dil Bahadur Mahat, a resident of the Beldangi camp, about this, he said the refugees deported from the US reported that the Bhutanese government once again refused to let them stay in their own country and sent them back to Nepal.
“They weren’t allowed to stay in Bhutan even for a day after landing at the airport,” Mahat said, based on conversations with the three refugees who arrived at the camp.
“Of the 10, we still don’t know where seven of them went. Three made it to our camp.” He added that they were told in Bhutan, “You have no land or property here, no relatives, and no right to stay,” and were instructed to leave the country. “It seems they were told, ‘Some of your relatives might be in Nepal, so go there,’ and were dropped off at the Phuntsholing border,” he said.
Mahat believes this incident clearly shows that the Bhutanese government’s attitude toward the Nepali-speaking community remains unchanged. “After the US deported them back to Bhutan, it was internationally established that they are Bhutanese citizens. Yet, the Bhutanese government refused to accept them as its citizens. This is a matter of international concern regarding the human rights of Nepali-speaking Bhutanese,” he said.
These refugees had previously been resettled in the US under a third-country resettlement program certified by a United Nations mission. Mahat argues that the fact that individuals certified by the UN as refugees expelled from Bhutan are once again denied residence in Bhutan should also be a matter of concern for the United Nations.
“Our biggest worry is whether more Bhutanese Nepali-speaking people will be expelled and arrive here in the coming days,” Mahat said. “The Trump administration is continuing to deport immigrants. If more Bhutanese refugees are deported tomorrow and the Bhutanese government sends them all back to Nepal, what will the situation be like?”
He believes the Nepal government should intensify diplomatic discussions with Bhutan and raise the issue that Bhutan must accept the refugees deported back to its territory. If the Nepal government delays diplomatic efforts, he warns, the refugee crisis from three decades ago could resurface.
The Bhutanese refugees arrested by police from the Beldangi camp on Saturday are 36-year-old Ashish Subedi, 31-year-old Santosh Darji, and 36-year-old Roshan Tamang.
The Jhapa District Police Office stated that preparations are underway to hand them over to the Immigration Department for further investigation.
DSP Khagendra Khadka said they have tightened security at the border due to the possibility of more Bhutanese refugees entering Nepal.
