India oversight
Thanks so much for your recent coverage of the Lhotshampa refugee issue (June, "Repatriation or resettlement"). We found it unfortunate, however, that the writer did not stress India's role in ending this near two-decade-long tragedy. India has been instrumental in creating this problem, and its involvement is necessary in finding a solution.
With regard to third-country settlement, this should be a choice made by individual refugees. That said, it is also important to note that the UNHCR and the members of the core group have been emphasising only resettlement, rather than putting pressure on the Bhutanese authorities to take back the country's citizens. In addition, the US and other resettlement countries have not yet demonstrated that refugees' right to return to Bhutan will be guaranteed after resettlement. Furthermore, they have not made clear the conditions under which refugees will be kept in these new countries. This oversight has created unnecessary tensions in the camps.
UNHCR and the 'core-group' countries have also not spoken about the Lhotshampas who remain in Bhutan, who were not registered as Bhutanese citizens during the last census. Thousands of Lhotshampas are now in line to be booted out of the country, and the US, India and most human-rights groups are acting as mere spectators as the events unfold. To claim itself as the largest democracy in world, how ethical is it for India to remain aloof from these activities, taking place in a country to which it has offered guidance for decades?
Bhutan News Service team
Kathmandu