Police arrested former home minister Balkrishna Khand on Wednesday on charges of his involvement in the fake Bhutanese refugee scandal that has rocked the entire political circle, mainly in the Nepali Congress (NC) and CPN-UML. UML secretary and former deputy prime minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, also a lawmaker, who has also been implicated in the scam, is still absconding, saying he has fallen sick and was 'undergoing medical treatment' at an undisclosed hospital as per a letter sent to Speaker Devraj Ghimire. UML's central secretariat meeting held on Wednesday suspended Rayamajhi as the party's secretary and told him to cooperate with the police in the investigation process. Following the arrest of Khand and his aide, Narendra KC, NC president and former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is said to be in tension as his wife and lawmaker Arzoo Rana Deuba could also be arrested in connection with the scam involving high-profile people. Arzoo and Khand's wife Manju are said to have received Rs 25 million and Rs 60 million, respectively, from the middlemen as per the reported audiotape leaked to the media. Police decided to arrest the former home minister after it was confirmed that then home secretary Tek Narayan Pandey and Khand had several rounds of telephonic conversations with the human traffickers.

Earlier, former home secretary, now secretary at the office of the Vice-President, Pandey had formatted or deleted all the data from his mobile phone to destroy all evidence of his conversations with the racketeers. But the police retrieved all the data and established the fact that Khand was also involved in the scam. Most of the racketeers involved in the fake refugee scam have told the police that they had paid a large amount of money to Khand, Pandey, Rana and Manju so that they could send Nepali nationals to the USA as fake Bhutanese refugees. As per the police, the middlemen had swindled from one million to five million rupees from at least 875 Nepalis. This case came to light after those persons, who had paid money to the human traffickers, could not go to foreign countries as Bhutanese refugees, and also did not get their money back from the racketeers.

This is the first time in Nepal's history that a former home minister and home secretary have been indicted on charges of human trafficking. This case has not only tarnished the image of the political parties and their leaders, but also the country's image in the international community. How could a sitting home minister and a home secretary dare to forge their own citizens as Bhutanese refugees for a few million rupees? They should have known that the Bhutanese refugee issue had already been settled once and for all in 2017. The decision to collect evidence in the guise of 'left out Bhutanese refugees in the registration process' itself was flawed and ill-intended. In this case, the government and the political parties must not interfere with the ongoing investigation against the accused as the international community is also closely watching the unfolding developments. The government must have swung into action against the high-profile people as a result of pressure from foreign diplomatic missions, which helped settle the Bhutanese refugees in their countries.

Economy comes first

The ongoing fake Bhutanese refugee scam is diverting the attention of the lawmakers away from a healthy budget discussion so necessary to put the country's economy on the right track. Nepal has plunged into its first recession in sixty years, and unless concrete measures are taken, it will be very difficult to get the country out of the morass. The lawmakers do realise the gravity of the problem, but unless there is unity among them to put the country's economy ahead of their personal interests, we cannot expect much from the budget for the coming fiscal year.

As some of the lawmakers have pointed out, austerity measures must be promoted in the unproductive sectors in the upcoming budget. But will the lawmakers be willing to forego the pork barrel fund that they have been enjoying for decades? Corruption at all levels, including policy-level corruption, is another issue that will require more than mere lip service if it is to be controlled. Eight years after the new constitution was drafted, voices are being raised about the futility of the federal system adopted by the country, which is proving to be a white elephant that the taxpayers can no longer afford to maintain. Can the MPs make the federal system more sustainable?