Oct 08: Speakers at a farewell program have stressed on need of the continual support of Caritas-Nepal in Bhutanese refugee education program.
Participants of the function including Fr Amal Raj and Father Verkey in front row. Photo/Arjun
In a farewell function to bid bye to Father Verkey, the field director of Sub-office of Caritas- Nepal in Damak, Jhapa today, speakers of the program said that the support of Caritas-Nepal was inevitable.
Camp secretaries of various camps including chairperson of Bhutanese Refugee Repatriation Representative Committee Dr Bhampa Rai, among others attended the farewell function.
At his last moment with refugees, Father Verkey, during the function, expressed hopes that Caritas-Nepal would be assisting Bhutanese refugees in educational sector. He also pointed out the need of qualified teachers inside camp-based schools.
Meanwhile, Caritas-affiliated Youth Friendly Centre has released an album ‘samjauta’ (meaning- compromise) during the function. Samjauta comprises lyrics and songs by young refugee artists depicting the talents of youths in camps.
Father PS Amal Raj SJ, former field director of Caritas sub-office in Damak, will again shoulder the responsibility for the same post.
Caritas-Nepal has been assisting the education program for Bhutanese refugees since the establishment of camps.
October 08: After east, the nature takes a wrath in southern districts with continued ranfaill for last few days casing major damanges in infrastructures.
Torrent rainfall on October 6 cut off Dagana from any contact with other parts of the country for the third time this year. The landslides caused by the rain blocked the 87 km Sunkosh-Dagana road at four places.
Due to the rainfall Baligangchu, 53 km from Sunkosh towards Dagana, has swollen up making it impossible for vehicles to ply the bypass. The other bypass to connect the district, Balingchu bridge, was washed away in August.
A major landslide occurred in Dagachu where falling boulders pose a great risk for travellers. In Ambichu, minor landslides occurred while Nidukha also experienced heavy landslides.
The continued rainfall has threatened to wash away Dagachu brigde as well. The health minister Zangley Dukpa, who is in Dagana visit, has been stranded in Dagapela due to landslide.
Road clearing work has begun but continued rainfall and landslide have posed difficulty in clearing the road.
The rain has also disrupted the power transmission towers in Dagana.
Vehicles plying between Trongsa and Gelephu have been stranded at Reutala in Zhemgang, due to the landslide.
The rainfall brought Druk air flights to a complete halt beside blocking national highways. Drukair today cancelled outgoing flights from Kolkata, Bangkok and Bagdogra.
In Chukha paddy cultivation in some areas is in danger of being washed away.
The meteorolists forecast rainfall at least another 36 hours as the wind is moving eartern parts.
The rainfall, which started around 7 pm on Tuesday evening, has affected all the distircts with the heavy showers in southern Bhutan.
The rainfall recorded in the last 30 hours so far, from 9 am Tuesday till 3 pm Wednesday, shows 166.8 mm in Sipsu in the south, 51.77 mm in Thimphu, 64.5 mm in Wangduephodrang and 59.22 mm in Zhemgang. Mongar and Trashigang received 28 mm and 27.8 mm of rain Tuesday 3 pm.
Major rivers have swollen. Thimpuchu gre from 1.80 m on Monday to 2.20 m by Tuesday 5 pm. Similarly, Amochu in Dorokha swelled from 3.00 m to 4.40 m, Punatsangchu from 1.75 m to 2.70 m, Sunkosh from 1.70 m to 3.90 m, Mangdechu from 6 m to 7.55 m, Kurichu from 7.10 m to 8.05 m and Aietchu in Gelephu from 1.60 m to 3.30 m.
Temporary landslide blockades on the Phuentsholing-Thimphu, Trongsa-Gelephu and Bumthang-Mongar highways were cleared.
Adelaide, October 08: Australian police source said that it could take at least three days for them to release the dead body of late Mon Maya Ghimirey, who is suspected of committing suicide on Wednesday evening.
The dead body was taken for post-mortem yesterday evening.
Late Ghimire, 29, holding microphone to sing a song at a cummunity program held in Adelaide on April 2009.
Members of Bhutanese community in South Australia gathered today to discuss about the funeral of late Ghimirey.
The meeting also discussed about the future of her four children who are currently under the care of Gauri Giri, a social activist belonging to the same community.
Representatives from the Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy (IHSS) of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), Migrant Resource Centre of South Australia and Family SA also participated in the meeting.
Preliminary investigation reports carried out by the police stated that the case is likely to be a suicide but details could be known only after the post-mortem.
Laxman Yogi, the case worker for late Ghimire informed BNS that the deceased had been under special health surveillance for her mental abnormality where two hospitals had been rendering services for her treatment. She was also receiving better Centre link benefits due to the same disability.
‘In Australia, the case worker usually helps in the settlement program of a humanitarian migrant for the first four months, but she was provided this service indefinitely,’ said Yogi.
Yogi further informed that she had been receiving counseling quite regularly at her own residence at Marion with the help of an interpreter.
Goldhap, October 7: Inter-club football tournament kicked off in Goldhap yesterday amidst an inaugural program which marked the presence of various personalities.
According to Rupesh Dhungana, altogether 16 teams are participating the tournament which lasts until the upcoming Laxmi Pooja.
“We have clubs from camps, local community and Armed Police Force fighting each other,” said Dhungana of Youth Friendly Center, which is the organizer funded by Caritas Nepal.
Meanwhile, the noted footballer of the camp, Ichha Ram Chamlagain, 28, formally renounced his sportsmanship citing his interest for resettlement.
“Most of my friends are already resettled. So, I am also leaving football and choosing resettlement,” said Chamlagain, who started playing football in 1994.
He was declared Overall Champion in 2001 during inter-camp football tournament and has played a number of regional matches in various Indian clubs.
Meanwhile, following incessant rain in the eastern districts, all schools and language centers in the camp are shut down today.
The level of water has gone high which has made classrooms unfit for studies, said one of the school teachers.
California, October 7: Denmark-based Dhan Maya Ale Magar, women representative of Youth Organization of Bhutan (YOB) attended the Feminist Working Group meeting of International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY) in Vienna, Austria held from October 2 to 5.
In a press release, YOB stated that Magar presented the current situation of the exiled Bhutanese to highlight the sufferings of women in the camps. She urged delegates of various countries to provide the possible support to women in camps supporting their education and community health sector, said YOB.
IUSY is a global forum of socialist youth organizations which comprises membership from over 100 countries around the globe and is also a sister organization of Socialist International. YOB, which attended IUSY World Council in January and World Festival in July, joined IUSY in 1994.
Oct 06: Almost more than two weeks have passed since September 21 earthquake but the damage assessment report is still inconclusive.
“The numbers are going to change,” said the home minister, Minjur Dorji. He also said that the windstorm and the aftershocks have triggered more damages.
The latest updated report released yesterday says that 4,595 houses, 184 government buildings and institutions, 748 cultural properties were damaged and 47 people injured.
Of these, 1446 houses, 17 government buildings, 187 cultural properties were non repairable, according to the report compiled by the department of disaster management.
Mongar dzongkhag, where 1602 houses were reported damaged last week, had 1991 houses damaged as of yesterday. “The frequent aftershocks trigger more damages,” said Mongar dzongda Sherub Tenzin.
The Trashigang dzongda, Lungten Dorji, said that the severity of the damage caused by the quake was getting worse with the continuous aftershocks, the windstorm and heavy rains.
Dorji also said that the psychological trauma the people were going through has subsided because the relief efforts have reached them.
Thousands of the people in the eastern districts are still living outside their homes.
Meanwhile, His Holiness the Je Khenpo and about 100 monks are conducting a three-day Dechog Zhiwai Jinseg Gyep for the well being of the people and the country at the Tendril Thang in Tashichhodzong.
Timai, Oct 05: Most wanted murderer Yadav Gurung and his ally Pahal Man Rai, who were arrested by Armed Police Force (APF) from Timai camp on October 2, disclosed the involvement of S.B.Subba, chairperson of Human Rights Organization of Bhutan, with United Revolutionary Front of Bhutan, an underground outfit that stabbed Shantiram Nepal of Beldangi-I and K.B.Khadka of Beldangi-II Extension.
“Yadav has revealed that the underground armed group is operated by S.B.Subba, Ramesh Subba and Tara Mukarung,” said Jai Kumar Chaudhary, Timai-based APF In-charge.
Gurung, who gunshot Lal Bahadur Gurung of Beldangi-II Extension and Shantiram Nepal earlier, admitted that he and his sister-in-law Bhakta Gurung of Timai camp knifed Khadka last month.
Police hunted Bhakta is at large, while Yadav has not yet disclosed the reason of slaying Khadka.
Now the duo is being interrogated at Bhadrapur for further details, said Chaudhary. Earlier, Subba was arrested and released on bail after few days in connection to murder of Nepal.
Subba was not immediately available to comment on the news.
Oct 04: Bhutanese community in Sydney and Melbourne in Australia observed anniversaries of their arrival in the region on October 3 and 4 amidst special functions.
Resettled Bhutanese marked their Annual Day, the first day of their arrival on October 3. The Association of Bhutanese in Australia (ABA) organized the program with various cultural shows that included Sangini (a Nepali folk song), traditional dances and songs.
Bhutanese artists also staged a six-episode play ‘Jindagi Choto Cha,’ meaning- ‘life is short’.
Laurie Ferguson, a Federal Member for Granville and Parliamentary Secretary in the Department of Immigration was the chief guest while other invitees included state directors, media persons and representatives of various Nepalese communities of Sydney, among others.
Speaking at the function, Ferguson briefly highlighted the progress made by the Bhutanese resettled in Australia, especially in the fields of education and professional developments.
He also mentioned that around 800 Bhutanese have already been resettled in different parts of Australia. He stated that as many as 2,000 would be resettled by the end of 2010. Ferguson also confessed that Australia could not do much to protect the rights of Nepali-speaking people in Bhutan.
Meanwhile, Bhutanese Community in Australia (BCA), Albury-Wodonga and Melbourne organized a special function on October 4.
Participants of the program.
According to BCA, the event, which was organised at the Merimbeena Community Centre in Lavington NSW, was aimed at marking the first anniversary of their arrival in this state of Australia.
The programme began with the celebration of Dashain-Tihar festival in a very unique way by receiving the chief guest and guest of honour, offering Khada (scarf), Mangala Charan Ariti (a good wish prayer) and escorting the procession to the Puja mandab ( holly stall) by the priests with the welcoming rhymes and young girls carrying the Diyo Kalas(holy lamp) and Jhyali(musical instrument).
The priest also offered teeka to the chief guest and guest of honour. In return, the chief guest offered Raja tika (the tika their King used to put on the civilians and priests in Bhutan) to the priests, senior officials of local government, community organizations, among others.
The cultural function had 19 different programs which included traditional dance of the Bhutanese of Nepali origin, Nepalese dances, Dzongkha dances, solo songs, Sangini , Bhajans (prayers) and special Deusi dance.
The second phase of the program marked the first anniversary of the arrival of Bhutanese in Melbourne in October 2008. The participants reflected their life one year ago and spoke of the experiences, support and opportunities that the community received from Australians and its service agencies.
BCA further mentioned that a special ceremony was scheduled to honour and thank the volunteers from Albury and Wodonga . The formation of a special bond between the Bhutanese and the local community in Albury and Wodonga was evident from the enthusiastic participation of non- Bhutanese in the program. Volunteers from these communities have been helping Bhutanese refugees in their settlement process.
The BCA honoured their hard work with certificates of appreciation along with the settlement agencies in a special ceremony where the certificates were presented by the chief guest, Greg Aplin ,MP for Albury and the guest of honour, the Ex- Mayor and Councillor, Patricia Gould of Albury City Council.
Addressing the function, Aplin said that the border community was happy to see the wonderful culture and traditions from the Bhutanese performing in Albury, adding that people need not to go Bhutan to see the rich culture that Bhutan has.
Honoured people display certificates.
The guest of honour, Patricia remarked, ‘After the initial settlement of migrants in Albury and Wodonga, Bhutanese is the largest community that is settling recently in the areas. The local government is very happy to have them settled and look forward to support them in the settlement processes’. Fadel Bahimin, Director, Community Relations Commission (CRC) of NSW and about 20 different local government officials and community organisations attended the function.
More than half of the 400 people were from the Australian community while other members from Indian, African and Nepalese community also attended the function.
All the members present there were served with traditional food- dahi cihura (curd and bitten rice), amadashi (special Bhutanese curry), Khir (Nepali stuff) among other special items.
Parsuram Sharma Luitel, the president of BCA said that those Bhutanese resettled in Australia are the special victims of torture, people who have lived long in the Bhutanese prison, single mothers, widows and disabled people.
He further said that because of such traumatic experience in the past, some of the members might need longer time to fully recover and join the work force as compared to others.
According to BCA, the program was funded by CRC, NSW and Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) , Victoria and supported by Albury Wodonga Volunteer Resource Bureau (AWVRB) and Albury City Council.
By Ichha Poudyel with inputs from Bhim Bhattarai( Albury) and Damber Dhungel(Sydney)
Oct 3: A team of Armed Police Force has arrested Yadav Gurung of Beldandi I camp who was in the top of the wanted list of police for increasing murders in camps.
According to the camp secretary of Timai camp, Gurung was arrested on Friday from his camp.
Police has also arrested another man affiliated to United Revolutionary Front of Bhutan (URFB) along with Gurung. Last year, URFB had rocked bombs in Bhutan twice and had declared ‘arm launch’ against the regime.
APF source further informed BNS that Gurung admitted his involvement in this underground outfit. During the police investigation, Gurung also disclosed that the URFB cadres murdered both K. B. Khadka and Shatiram Nepal.
Another wanted man from Timai, Bhim Gurung also has hand in glove over Khadka’s murder, Yadav told police.
Gurung further revealed the police that former camp secretary of Beldangi-I Ramesh Subba heads this underground revolutionary outfit.
Subba, who addressed a mass meeting in Beldangi-I camp after the completion of his tenure few years back, had sworn not to return to camp until the struggle for repatriation takes place. Since then Subba is believed to be spending underground life and is out of contact.
Late Khadka was stabbed-to-death on September 8 near Beldangi camp by two masked youths.
