For the first time since Bhutanese refugees set foot on Nepali soil exactly a decade ago, a group of Bhutanese officials drove into the refugee camps in Jhapa and Morang districts in southeast Nepal this January. The euphoria and excitement generated by the joint verification team's visit among the nearly 100,000 refugee population housed in UNHCR-administered camps was palpable. And the refugees may rightly have cause to exult—after ten years in exile they see some light at the end of the tunnel. But is this first glimmer of hope likely to lead to early, or even eventual, repatriation? Moreover, if the refugees do make the journey home, will they be allowed to pick up the pieces from where they left, or will they be expected to start all over again elsewhere? Even as the refugee community savours the moment, surely many among them are wondering whether this is finally the home stretch or yet another instance of the Bhutanese government skillfully tiding over a difficult time in the negotiations.
The establishment of the joint verification team seven years after it was first mooted and the actual visit to the camps come in the wake of a resurgence of concern in the international community over the problem of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. Much as Bhutan may publicly claim otherwise, recent diplomatic initiatives have certainly contributed to the sudden conciliatory tone adopted by Bhutan, which has by now developed the diplomatic technique of prevarication to perfection against a hapless Nepali side led by bumbling politicians.
The continued presence of armed Bodo militants in the kingdom's southern forests and the rejection of persistent Indian pleas to allow their forces inside Bhutan to flush them out of hiding, has also had an impact on Indo-Bhutan relations, and has had its ramifications on the Bhutanese approach to the bilateral talks with Nepal. The framework of Indo-Bhutan understanding and equations in the Nepal-Bhutan dialogue may have been further altered with recent developments in this regard, particularly the killing of Bhutanese nationals in India (attributed by India to Bhutan-based National Democratic Front of Bodo Land and to India-friendly Bodo Liberation Tiger Force by Bhutan). (see Himal, February 2001)
Whatever the reasons behind Thimphu's sudden change of stance, the refugees are not complaining. Indeed, surprising all observers, Bhutanese officials were warmly received in all the camps. Despite concerns over their security there were reportedly even scenes of warm hugs between old friends. The visitors assured the refugees that the government was willing and eager to repatriate all Bhutanese very soon. The fact that the Bhutanese have assigned a fluent Nepali speaker to deal with the situation, till this assignment the director of tourism, is also taken by some to show Thimphu's conciliatory tilt.