As of yet, the Nepal Police seems determined in logically concluding this issue as the international community is keenly observing the ongoing procedures. This is definitely going to be a litmus test for the police that has not addressed a high-profile case for many years
The ongoing high-profile apprehension spree associated with the fake refugee case has unveiled the dark side of the organised corruption within the government.
The likes of former deputy prime minister and former home minister were either absconding or were trying to illicitly influence the police. If the investigation of this case is fairly executed, a score of high-profile individuals are going to land behind the bars anytime soon.
The issue of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal dates back to the early 1990s. The Lhotshampas – Bhutanese citizens of Nepali ethnicity – were forced to flee Bhutan amid a series of discriminatory policies implemented by their government. Bhutan enacted the "One Nation, One People" policy that was aimed to preserve Bhutanese culture by promoting the dominant Drukpa ethnic group and imposing strict citizenship criteria.
As a result, the marginalised Lhotshampas were subjected to human rights abuses, including forced evictions, property seizures, and restrictions on their language, culture and religious practices.
Between 1990 and 1992, tens of thousands of Bhutanese refugees fled to Nepal crossing Indian territory.
The refugees were settled in United Nations-administered camps in mostly Jhapa and Morang districts.
The camps were supported by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other international organisations.
For many years, the refugees lived in the camps, hoping to return to Bhutan.
However, repatriation efforts faced significant challenges due to the lack of a mutually agreed-upon process between the governments of Bhutan and Nepal.
The Bhutanese government maintained that the refugees left voluntarily.
In 2006, an important breakthrough occurred when Bhutan and Nepal signed a joint statement on the Bhutanese refugee issue.
The statement provided three options for the refugees: repatriation to Bhutan, resettlement in a third country, or integration into Nepali society. This marked the beginning of a largescale resettlement programme, primarily to the United States, Canada, Australia and some European countries.
However, the story doesnot end there. Reports showed that a few thousand refugees missed the resettlement proceedings for various reasons. To address these issues, the Home Ministry formed a three-member task force in 2019 to identify potential Bhutanese refugees left out in Nepal.
The task force might have been formed with good intentions, but its outcome was marred by gravecontroversies. The Annex of the original report submitted by the task force was found to be maliciously altered, and hundreds of Nepali citizens were included in the list of Bhutanese refugees.
The middlemen involved in this scam cashed millions of rupees from Nepali citizens aspiring to migrate to a third country with a fake Bhutanese refugee identity.
A lion's share of the money collected from the fakerefugees made its way to the alleged high-level politicians and bureaucrats. The fake refugees, however, were unable to migrate as promised, and the beans got finally spilled, leading to the arrest of high-profile personalities.
The government, especially the prime minister (PM) and the home minister, are being praised for initiating this exceptional featagainst corruption. As of yet, the Nepal Police seems to be determined in logically concluding this issue as the international community is keenly observing the ongoing procedures. This is definitely going to be a litmus test for the Nepal Police that has not addressed a high-profile case for many years. Additionally, this issue does not only involve Nepal but also drags the concerns of the UNHCR and countries involved inrefugee resettlement.
Hence, Nepal Police should utilise their resources to the fullest in solving this case.
Despite all the proceedings so far, a large section of the public is still sceptical that the high-profile culprits will be convicted. This is supported by the fact that a few alleged names involved in the case seem to be ardently put aside. Moreover, the PM and the home minister belong to the third largest party, and a slight change in the coalition will immediately topple the government.
Besides, they themselves are alleged in a score of financial misdoings and abuse of authority over the years.
In addition, the government is all set to pass a controversial bill to impose a 5-year statute of limitations on corruption. Hence, a free and fair trial in this case seems a goliath task for the Nepal Police. Hopefully, the government overcomes all these suspicions and misconceptions and will allow it to work independently.
Sans the government interference, the internationally applauded Nepal Police will definitely dig all the roots related to this case.
No matter how this case had emerged, the concerned authorities are doing a remarkable job. However, this is just the tip of an iceberg. Over the years, a score of corruption cases have been forcibly buried down with malicious intentions.
The recent examples of wide-body aircraft irregularities, the Baluwatar and Lalita Niwas land scam, the medical equipment procurement scandal, irregularities related to security printing press, the Yeti holding case and Gokarna resort lease fiddle are omnipresent in the media. Even the older cases related to cantonment irregularities and the financial anomalies during the Maoist insurgency are waiting to be investigated.
The start is encouraging and the fake Bhutanese refugee case should be justifiably solved, so that all the sections of the society would embrace the verdict.
This will recuperate Nepal's fading credibility against organised corruption in the international arena. Stepping on this case, the government should also initiate the investigation of other similar cases.
Dr Joshi is senior scientist and neurobiologist at Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germanypushpa.joshi@gmail.com
A version of this article appears in the print on May 19, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
