Parbat Portel

Owing to growing uncertainty, campaigners of repatriation of Bhutanese refugees taking shelter in eastern Nepal have themselves starting going abroad under the third country resettlement programme.

Narad Adhikari, once an avid repatriation campaigner, is the latest of the lot to leave for the US. He was the spokesman of Druk National Congress (Democratic) that still spearheads the repatriation movement.

Adhikari left for the US under the third country resettlement programme on August 3 along with his family members.

Adhikari’s is just a case in point. Dozens of other big names leading the repatriation movement—Tek Bir Chhetri, Suvash Acharya and Chhabilal Timsina to name a few—have left Nepal under the third resettlement programme.

Talking to the Post on Facebook, Adhikari said he was disheartened to see the bitter rivalry and schism among Bhutanese leaders and decided to leave for the US.

“The repatriation movement has lost momentum given the differences among the leaders crusading for repatriation,” he said. Adhikari is now living in New Hampshire.

A knowledgeable source said the repatriation movement is about to end, mainly due to political ideologies. Jhampa Rai, the chairman of the Bhutanese refugees repatriation committee, admitted that politics has always played a big role in the repatriation movement.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, around 51,000 Bhutanese refugees have resettled in eight countries under the resettlement programme.

Adhikari said the resettled refugees will soon launch a repatriation movement in the countries they have been staying. He, however, did not say when such a movement would begin.

Published on: 24 August 2011 | The Kathmandu Post