Mar 09: Two Canadians traveled extensively in Beldangi camp on Tuesday to access the latest situation in the camps at the wake of resettlement process.
Margaret Styczynska, manager for resettlement and integration services of the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society and Bozana Sljuka, manager for settlement programs of the Lethbridge Family Service met with the exiled Bhutanese today and talked in person to know their grievances.
They assured the exiled Bhutanese willing to resettle in Canada that coping with language is not so difficult but needs more attention and enthusiasm.
According to Govinda Koirala, they visited the language classes being run for the elderly people, children program offices and health posts.
The duo also reached out to special security huts in Beldangi I camp and consoled those living there not to fear the threats given to them.
The Canadians are currently in camps to meet the families who will be flown to Canada for resettlement. They are scheduled to meet all those family separately.
Beldangi-I, March 8: Hundreds of exiled women marched in a rally today to mark the 100th International Women Day today morning.
The rally displayed several slogans related to women issues including ‘women right is human right’ before the mass converted into a gathering in the camp premises.
Bhutan Media Society (BMS) and Bhutanese Refugee Women Forum (BRWF) jointly organized a special program today to mark this day.
Women in camp march in a rally in Beldani-I camp
The program marked stage programs, felicitation of vulnerable and single women, and roundtable media interaction on ‘situation of women and our roles’.
Upon leaving the stage after receiving the felicitation, both Biswa and Rai heartily thanked GHRD and resettled Bhutanese in the Netherlands for the gift package.
” I am very happy to get this package, they have not forgotten us,” Biswa told Bhutan News Service. “I have no idea who has given me this, but I am really happy,” Rai, who was filled with immense joy that covered her gloomy face, commented.
Jeetan Subba of Bhutan News Service moderating interaction program
Harka Rai, the camp supervisor of Refugee Coordination Unit under the Ministry of Home Affairs, appreciated the initiatives of BMS and BRWF in holding such programs. “We must always motivate women in camps so that they start feeling self dependence.”
Pawan Acharya of the UNHCR applauded the support from GHRD and resettled Bhutanese in supporting women and people in need in the camps.
“UNHCR has been working to uplift women in camps,” he said, “It is note-worthy that such organizations are together with us in camps, although they are far from the camps.”
BRWF volunteer Rupa Subba and former camp secretary of Sanischare camp, Menuka Nepal, emphasized on need of launching skill development programs for children and frustrated youths in camps.
Through BMS, I would like to request GHRD and resettled Bhutanese to work out some short-term skills development programs for our children, said Rupa. “Resettled Bhutanese are always within our hearts and we look for their supports to uplift our situations.”
Representatives of Lutheran World Federation, Children Forum, Youth Friendly Circle and Camp Management Committee among others expressed their solidarity in the program.
Likewise, issuing a circular today All Bhutanese Refugee Women Association has asked women in camps and those resettled to come to a single platform for repatriation of the exiled Bhutanese.
Mar 05: Police in Aurora area of Colorado State are asking the public
for help finding a missing man who is a Bhutanese recently resettled
there.
According to police the 42-year-old Tulasi Niroula, who went missing
on Monday afternoon, is a deaf-mute and does not understand English.
He is illiterate as well.
He is described as about 5 feet 6 inches tall and 60 kg. He has black
hair with a gray spot on top. He was last seen wearing a light blue
baseball cap, a blue jacket, white pants and sandals.
He was resettled in that area about six months back.
He does not have a car or a bus pass and was last seen on foot.
Niroula did not take any form of identification when he left his
Aurora apartment. He has no credit cards and does not have a cell
phone. He has trouble walking and has a limp.
Mar 05: New Bhutanese envoy to the Maldives ,Dasho Bap Kesang has
presented his Credentials to President Mohamed Nasheed, at a ceremony
held at the President’s Office on Thursday.
After the presentation of credentials, the President and the
Ambassador discussed bilateral relations between the two countries and
ways of further strengthening these relations.
Discussions were also concentrated on the preparations of the up
coming 16th SAARC Summit to be held in Bhutan, scheduled for April
this year, and making the Summit a successful one.
February 20: Bhutan News Service (BNS) in close coordination with the Camp Management Committee (CMC) in Beldangi-I camp distributed relief package to fire victims in the camp on Friday amidst a special function.
BNS distributed cash donation to fire victims in presence of representatives from the UNHCR, LWF and Armed Police Force. The donation package ranged from Nepalese rupees 1300 to 7000 based on family sizes.
Through online ‘call for support’, BNS had collected Nepalese rupees 156339.33 from resettled Bhutanese in various parts of the world. Similarly, Bhutanese from Adelaide, Albury, Wodonga and Melbourne of Australia shared their souls by extending monetary cash to the fire victims.
Association of Bhutanese in Norway alone had contributed the greatest amount followed by resettled Bhutanese in Australia. Bhutanese Community of Australia had played crucial role in donation.
Camp Secretary, TB Gurung, handing over cash grant to a fire victim during the program
On the program, the CMC also distributed Nepalese rupees 32000 cash collected from various camps while the Netherlands-based GHRD and Bhutanese community in the Netherlands also distributed Nepalese rupees 28844 to the fire victims, through representatives of BNS and CMC.
Vidhyapati Mishra of BNS, who reached camp from Kathmandu to distribute the cash support, also handed over ‘match box’ and ‘lighter’ as symbols of fire control to camp secretary TB Gurung during the program.
Fire victims highly praised those who managed their hard times to collect the funds. “We are really thankful to Parshuram Luitel in Australia, Ramesh Gautam in Norway, the BNS team, and the entire Bhutanese community in diaspora for extending us support,” said TB Gurung during the program.
Click here for details of the support through BNS. Click here to download powepoint for photograghs and other details.
February 20: The postmortem of former camp secretary Ramesh Subba, who was shot dead on February 19, was done yesterday at Bhadrapur-based hospital.
Aita Maya Subba, spouse of late Ramesh who was present at the spot said “my husband was talking to me in my cell while he was shot.”
Aita Maya further added that the connection cut off instantly but she could hear some noises.
According to her, Subba called her while heading towards one of their relatives, where he was supposed to reside a night.
“He told me that he contacted Bir Bahadur Subba, who is police-hunted and at large, during our conversations,” she added.
Inspector of Nepal Police at Kakarvitta, Devi Thapa, confirmed the shooting at 7:20 pm yesterday by two unidentified gun-men.
“We have recovered 15000 cash, two cell phones and a wrist watch from the spot, all belonging to deceased Subba,” added Thapa.
According to Aita Maya, he might have managed that cash to pay for legal advisor of her eldest son, Bir Bahadur, who is under trail in central jail in Bhadrapur jhapa in connection to the murder of KB Khadka.
The family is scheduled to bring his dead body to camp for funeral from Bhadrapur this afternoon.
Beldangi, Feb 20: Ramesh Subba, the former camp secretary of Beldangi I camp was shot dead yesterday evening.
Subba, the temporary resident of Beldangi I sector G was shot dead by unidentified armed gunmen at Itabhatta in Mechinagar Municipality, three kilometers west of Kakarvitta. His dead body is kept at Bhadrapur Hospital for postmartem.
According to T.B Gurung, the camp secretary of Beldangi I, police investigation is underway and no one is arrested in connection to the murder until the filing of this report.
Earlier different media sources had revealed that Subba was affilated to the United Revolutionary Front of Bhutan(URFB), which had owned-up responsibility to serial bomb blasts in Bhutan at various times.
Subba, who had been spending underground life after a year of the completion of his tenure in camp management committee, was also accused of his involvement in connection to the murder of social activist K.B. Khadka last year.
A refugee woman of Sanischare camp was stabbed by her husband yesterday.
Chandra Maya Rashaili , 40, a temporary resident of sector C-3, Hut no 45 died at the spot when her husband Narad Mani Rashaili attacked her with Khukuri(a typical knife).
Following the incidence, police attested Narad Mani from the spot. The police believes that Narad Mani could have mental impairment which led him to kill his own wife.He is under investigation in the police custody. Chnadra Maya is survived by five children.
Kathmandu, Feb 10 : Nepali Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal this morning asked the Bhutanese Minister for Economic Affairs Wangchuk to take back the exiled Bhutanese.
“The third country resettlement alone would not solve the problem,” Nepal’s foreign advisor Rajan Bhattarai quoted Nepali PM as saying to Wangchuk. According to Bhattarai, Nepal also expressed his concern regarding the increasing suicidal trend among resettled Bhutanese in third countries.
In a response, Wangchuk committed that he would take the issue with the Bhutanese Prime Minister after his return.
Wangchuck, who reached Nepal yesterday as a special envoy, handed over invitation of Jigmi Y Thinley to Nepali PM in his official residence for the 16th Summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation to be held in Thimpu from April 28 – 29.
Jhapa, Feb.10: Bhutan National Democratic Party has called for fresh movement to make a path clear for national reconciliation and repatriation of exiled Bhutanese.
On the occassion of its 18th foundation day, on 7th February, BNDP set 2010 as the year of consolidating Bhutanese political movement.
‘Given the undercurrent of political frustration of the people inside the country under the so called democratic governance and the state of anxiety among a section of the Bhutanese refugees who are waiting in the camps for repatriation to Bhutan, BNDP has decided to work towards consolidation of the political movement and re-launching of the Satyagrah Movement which was undertaken earlier by the elderly people with the objective of national reconciliation and repatriation’, reads its press realese signed by the party’s Executive Chief ,Dr. DNS Dhakal.
The party has also said that the basis of the national reconciliation could be genuine political reforms in the system of governance, repatriation of willing refugees and restitution of their properties in Bhutan, and the issue of non-resident Bhutanese (NRB) especially those who have gone or would go abroad under third country resettlement program.
Since its formation in 1992, BNDP claims to have been lobbying for a durable solution to the refugee problem and genuine political reform in Bhutan.
