Saturday

Hunger Strike in Nepali Refugee Camp

To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what to make of this story.  For the past few days, I've been following, with some level of confusion, the development in Nepal's Beldangi 2 camp.  There a young Bhutanese-Nepali woman by the name of Durga Bista has spearheaded a hunger strike with about a dozen other women.  They have vowed to "fast unto death" unless their demands are met and are now a few days into the process.  Their demands?  They appear to be calling upon the Nation of Nepal to grant them "refugee status".

Now, what does that exactly mean?  That's where the confusion comes in.  Bista has said that the group is not asking to become Nepali citizens.  Rather they want to be granted refugee status.  Of course, in the United States, being granted refugee status means that you can legally live and work in the U.S. on a permanent basis and begin a process towards obtaining citizenship.  In Nepal, I assume that this is somewhat different.  However, it seems clear enough that Bista and her companions want to be granted some kind of permanent, legal status -- to live and work in Nepal.  The best I can discern is that this group consists of those who reject 3rd country resettlement for whatever reason.  

Anyway, the former camp secretary of Beldangi 2 lives here in Wheaton (he's one of my Nepali brothers actually) so I'm going to do a bit of inquiry to see if I can get a better handle on what's going on.  Since some of you may be concerned, as I am, about these women, I will report back any insights I am able to glean.  Below is a video of Durga Bista explaining her group's demands.  It is in Nepali and I've already been unsuccessful in trying to translate it -- kati chito boleko!


AMENDMENT:  I've just come across another story.  It has actually just left me more confused however.  I can't figure out whether those fasting represent all the people in the camp or just a small portion of people who aren't fully considered as refugees for some reason.  The numbers don't work in the story.  For example, at one point the article refers to 37,000 people who are living a "miserable life" in the camps.  Later, however, we read that "55,000 refugees from Bhutan continue to dwell" in the camps.  Not sure what's going on with those numbers.  Plus the first paragraph says that they are demanding "refugee status and other facilities as enjoyed by by their fellow refugees" in Beldangi 2.  My question is, what are the special circumstances of these women that cause them to not enjoy the benefits of other refugees?  And, who exactly do they represent?

AMENDMENT 2:  Okay, now another story that does shed a bit of light, but just a bit.  Here we get this rather vague statement, "Some 3,749 Bhutanese refugees in five camps . . . have not received identity cards due to various technical reasons and they have been deprived of the government relief package".  The term "various technical reasons" sounds intentionally non-specific.  What technical reasons?  Incorrectly filled out paperwork?  Not really being from Bhutan?  There is sort of a wide range of possibilities.

No comments:

Post a Comment