The Youth Friendly Centre (YFC) conducted it 2011 elections for various positions in the camp level and central teams.
YFC Program Coordinator Manorath Pokhrel informed Bhutan News Service that 162 representatives to various positions have been elected from the seven camps on Sunday.
Like camp secretary, YFC also elected Kirtiman Rai and Sarada Subba as male and female coordinators for three Beldangi camps.
Meawhile, Buddhi Singh Rai and Khem Kumari Rai from Sanischare, Kashinath Kadel and Mangali Gurung from Goldhap, Sunil Rai and Bhim Maya Gurung from Timai and Sitaram Acharya and Shangye Dolma Tamang from Khudunabari have been elected as YFC Coordinators.
Pokhrel said around 12,000 youths between 18 and 25 from all the camps are affiliated with the YFC.
The YFC was formed in 2006 and has been actively operating in camps with funding from the Caritas Nepal and UN Refugee Agency.
Reported by Tulasi Upreti from Beldangi-I camp for BNS
Ichha Poudel presents Bhutan Coverage from Australia followed by a talk with YFC program coordinator Manorath Pokhrel and Camp Secretary of Goldhap camp Chiranjibi Rai. In the second part you can listen to life after resettlement in New Zealand as Bidesi Chautari moderated by Ramesh Gautam from Norway.
This episode features a radio talk with Dr DNS Dhakal where he explains about significance of Non-Resident Bhutanese Network. In the second part, Sachin Rokka talks with leader Tek Nath Rizal on role of India in resolving the Bhutanese refugee issue
In the first part, you can listen to a short conversation between Nepali PM and RK Dorji followed by a talk with an elderly refugee from Beldangi-II moderated by Khem Dahal. In the second part you can listen to a discussion with refugees working in the bank of a river in Sanischare to earn their livelihood.
Prime Minister Jigmie Y Thinely on Friday labeled media as “least contributors for democracy”.
Standing against the verdict of the Supreme Courty that upheld the High Court decision on government tax, PM Thinley said, the media, while growing, is on a populist drive and has done very little for democracy.
“You’re swayed so easily and you do us all wrong, the well intended government and the innocent public,” he told the media while addressing a press meet in Thimphu.
The Kuelsel reported PM Thinley as saying, “You’ve worked very hard to make us feel very guilty of having come to government with such a large majority and you’ve shown no respect for the people’s mandate.
“We’ve been made weak by our strong mandate, by the media and by people who aren’t able to look beyond the present.”
Asking all media persons to read and understand both the verdicts and the government’s appeal letter to the Supreme Court, the PM also requested them to sympathize his government.
“Be true, be trusting and be sincere in your analysis,” he added.
The Bhutan United Democratic Party (BUDP), which was never heard before, has claimed that its cadres ambushed a squad of Bhutan police on February 18 at Patabari of Sarpang district.
Issuing a press statement on Friday afternoon, the BUDP said it failed to disseminate the information in time due to “technical problem”.
“In the ambush three policemen were seriously injured and were immediately evacuated to Thimpu, the capital of Bhutan for treatment and the rest who sustained minor injuries were treated in Galephu Hospital,” the statement said adding,” The BUDP takes full responsibility of the incidence.”
The party also said unlike other organizations like Bhutan United Democratic Front, United Revolutionary Front of Bhutan, Communist Party of Bhutan – MLM and Bhutan Tiger Force among others that were grown only in the camps and have been harassing own people, the BUDP was formed with the objective of protecting these people and maintain peace and tranquility in the camps.
“Our fight is with our enemy and the Government of Bhutan The fight will continue till we achieve our goal of repatriation with dignity and honour with full guarantee of restoration of our movable and immovable properties and democracy and human rights.”
The statement further said, “We have been forced to resort to arm rebellion after having all the peaceful means failed in last 20 years.”
The party said it also solicits support and solidarity from all its supporters and well-wishers.
Jyotisi Nepal, now 84, is what the community knows more about his name for being the fortune teller of his time. An old time astrologer, he was born in Chanautay village in Chirang in 1985 BS (1928 AD) as the eleventh son of family. Prajapati Nepal is his real name. At the time when infant and child mortality was commonplace, the ill-fortune that befell upon the family made his grandma to seek advice of a fortune teller, who forecasted the birth of him after two years.
Prajapati Nepal
I was the eleventh child of my parents, born after two of the elder brothers died each at the age of two, as per the fortune told to my grandma by a known astrologer of Baral family.
My father had twenty two acres of cultivable land in Chanautay village but my elder brothers were not helping in the farm. I was sent to study in Sanskrit Pathsala in Lamidanda at the age of seven. I studied various subjects of Sanskrit language and grammar until I turned sixteen. Narad Khatiwoda, Devicharan Baral and Dhanapati Adhikari were some great teachers of the pathsala. A temporary residence (hostel) was constructed by Padmalal Baral with local help to accommodate the students. I stayed in the hostel and did all my personal duties like cooking, washing, collecting firewood from the forest besides keeping the study.
Drinking water was not available nearby and it was one of the chores we did very early in the morning. Lighting was a problem for us; we used “diyalo” the raw pine branches to light and study. Kerosene was not available then. I used kerosene lamp for the first time when I was twelve years.
Our family migrated to Goshi village of Dagana in 1998 BS having bought seven acres of land at the rate of Rs.375 per acre. This move terminated my study of Sanskrit. But I was firm and determined to keep growing my knowledge and that I was inspired more by the wandering fortune tellers who went to Bhutan from the eastern hill districts of Nepal. At the age of nineteen, I started to learn the astrology from a local resident of Dagana, Ram Chandra Chamlagain. It was only after the dark, I could manage to learn the ABCs of astrology at Ram Chandra Guru’s residence. It took about three years for me to be able to write the paper (cheena) for fortune telling. I learned some mathematics used for the calculation of the position of stars, planets and sun. I was then 22 years when I first designed the fortune paper.
Yes, I became a fortune teller or an astrologer. Later, it turned out to be the source of additional income for me. I used hand-made paper bought from Nepal to write the fortune facts. I traveled to various places of Bhutan with the knowledge of astrology. Many government officials in Thimphu used to invite me for writing and describing the effect of celestial bodies on their life. I used to write with a pen made out of bamboo or a kind of fern. Ink was made from the solution of soot in water.
Education in Dagana was both traditional and modern. A Sanskrit (pathsala) school was initiated by the then village head, Nandu Gurung with active participation of Bishnukanta Khatiwoda and Laxmikanta Kkatiwoda. It was not recognized by the government then, but later included in the education system of Bhutan. I taught Veda in the pathsala. I also taught the astrology privately to some individuals who came to me. I taught to some amateur astrologers even in camp.
Girl children were not sent to school at the time. I was among the first to send my second daughter to school. I had to escort her to Phuntsholing for her class five board (common) exam, along with three other girls.
At the age of sixty one, I was arrested by the army alleging me of provoking the villagers, but the security forces could not provide enough evidence. In fact, it was Chanchu, a retired major who was my immediate neighbor to bring me to custody. He took control of the situation in Dagana during the mass protest of 1990, for he knew the wealthy and influential people of Dagana district. It was simply on the basis of my astrological errands and priesthood that Chanchu suspected me of instigating the villagers. Though I was not handcuffed while in Goshi School, statement was taken by the security forces to prove me of any wrongdoing. I was assured to be released after four months, but it did not happen.
I was transported to Damphu and kept there for three months. Statements to prove us guilty used to be taken everyday. Beating with fresh-cut wooden rods was a common form of torture and the security forces made inmates accept the guilt even if it was not their fault. I was beaten with the wooden rod once in Damphu.
After three months of incarceration I, along with other people from Dagana, was transferred to Chemgang central jail. I was handcuffed as well as shackled, but no physical beating. Altogether I spent 13 months in Bhutanese prison and custody and finally released. I came back to village and was not in a mood to leave the country but the village head-man routinely came to harass the women while the male members were taken to custody. So the government was tactically organized to make us leave the country using all possible means. I left the country in 1992 with a family of eight members.
(Nepal, who currently lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his son and grandsons, narrated the story to Buddha Mani Dhakal of the Bhutan News Service)
Undoubtedly, the third country resettlement program has added joys to majority of the Bhutanese refugees resettled in various developed countries. As resettled refugees enrich themselves in the country of resettlement, many of their friends and relatives back in camps in Nepal still fear to opt for the resettlement package.
Veteran DK Karki, who demonstrated his political caliber in the early stage of camp settlement in Nepal as an active cadre of the Bhutan People’s Party was never willing to leave camp to settle in western countries.
When most of his contemporary friends involved in the party-politics in exile vanished one after the other grasping such opportunities in various occasions, Karki remained rigid with the opinion that Nepal would be the best place to fight against the Bhutanese suppression.
“I got several opportunities to leave Nepal and get settled in western countries. But, I chose to remain in camps,” Karki says.
But, the year 2009 became worst for him when he was first diagnosed of complications in his liver by the AMDA Hospital that treats refugee patients in UN-monitored camps of Jhapa and Morang of Nepal.
Following a series of treatments at the AMDA Hospital and Life Line Hospital, Karki also spent months in the Indian city of Siliguri fighting against his liver cirrhosis. His friends and relatives financially supported him for his expensive treatment.
When he got discharged, he changed his mind and decided to resettle in America for getting better treatments as AMDA Nepal informed him that his treatment was beyond its criteria considering the cost.
And, accordingly he was processed under an emergency status for resettlement. When his family waited at the International
Karki in the hospital following his liver transplantation/Sanita Guragain
Organization for Migration( IOM) transit camp in Kathamndu, he was admitted in the Norvic Hospital for weeks.
48-year-old Karki, who waited at Beldangi-I camp for 18 years to return to Bhutan with dignity and honor was eventually resettled in St. Louis of Missouri in July last year.
A private doctor from the IOM escorted Karki from Kathmandu to America. Upon landing in Missouri, he was directly admitted to the Barnes Jewish Hospital.
Last December, a team of doctors at the Barnes Jewish Hospital undertook a liver transplantation surgery that lasted for almost six hours, according to his family.
“Now he is in a stable condition and has already gained weight of 52 pounds (approximately 20kg) ,” mentions one of his family members. According to the Karki family, the hospital has not yet disclosed the details of the person who donated the organ.
Karki, who has been recuperating says he has no proper words to thank the liver donor and the hospital team that have renewed his life.
“I have no words to thank everyone who helped me to come to this stage”, adds Karki with tears in his eyes.
“He is a lucky person to get his liver transplanted within a six months of his entry into the United States,” says Dr Lakshmi Prasad Dhakal, President of the Bhutanese Community in the Netherlands.
He adds, “In the Netherlands, the waiting time for this type of surgery is minimum a year, provided a patient fulfills transplantation requirements. In addition, a patient needs to prove through blood test, an alcohol abstinence of minimum six months”.
According to Dr Dhakal, life long medications to prevent rejection of a transplanted liver is recommended to all patients who undergo such medical conditions, otherwise, the immune system, the defense mechanism of the body recognizes the transplanted liver as “foreign to the body” and tries to expel it.
Most commonly, the technique is orthotopic transplantation, in which a donor liver replaces a native liver.
As of today, Dr Dhakal highlights that liver transplantation is the only option for an end-stage liver disease accompanied by failure of liver functions.
As his resettlement proceeded, Karki kept his hope high that he would be getting better treatments in the United States. However, he never thought that he would one day undergo liver transplantation.
“I never thought that I would live so long. The transplantation was out of my imagination since I knew no patients like me could manage the cost,” he says.
It is not that all end-stage liver patients can manage the operation cost although it varies from countries to countries.
Karki says he has been getting better each day with new liver in his body/Sanita Guragain
“Surgery in India and Nepal, if a compatible organ donor is found, costs less than 100,000 rupees; in USA only surgical costs would climb around 300,000 dollars and in Europe the cost is nearly two times than that of USA,” says Dr Dhakal.
But, Karki is certainly a select few to get the proper diagnosis and treatment on time. He is also lucky enough to have all of his expenses borne by his Medicaid, the health insurance provided to the refugees by the government. The U.S. government has defined this facility as “a government health program that is available to qualified people for a limited time after their arrival in the U.S.”
“However, bitter part of this procedure is the follow up cost that increases every year,” says Dr Dhakal. As per him, in Nepal this cost would be not less than Rs 15,000 annually.
“Born in Bhutan, spent my youth in Nepal, now I am living with a donated liver in America,” says Karki in the hope to live longer with the transplanted liver.
First of all, please acknowledge my congratulations for being elected as the 34th Prime Minister of Nepal after ending the seven-month long uncertainty and vacuum for a powerful government. With your election to the executive post, all Nepali citizens have started dreaming of the safe-landing of the ongoing peace process and unveiling new statute on time. At this juncture, I am happy to convey to your government that more than 75,000 of Bhutanese refugees, who have been spending their most precious time in ramshackle huts since 19 years in the eastern region of Nepal to which you also belong to and over 40,000 resettled in various countries, have also freshly renewed their hope that their issue would get a due attention in your official tenure.
File photo: PM Khanal reads a memorandum submitted by DNC President RK Dorji/picture courtesy: Karma
Dear sir, when I am writing this letter to draw your attention towards the long-standing Bhutanese refugee issue, I must remind you about your commitment towards the ongoing democratic struggle of the Bhutanese citizens, which you had expressed during a meeting with President of the Druk National Congress, Rongthong Kunley Dorji, in last September at your residence, where I was also present. Therefore, I expect that your government would try its level best to understand expectations and sufferings of the Bhutanese people, who shall ever remain indebted for all possible supports from the government and people level.
Apparently, the ongoing third country resettlement process has transformed the whole refugee-scenario and its related aspects. Those refugees, who have already availed this opportunity, have thanked everyone involved in the process including the Government of Nepal and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. However, it is not that every resettled Bhutanese is doing well or happy to be away from Nepal. Besides, a significant number of refugees want to wait in camps for repatriation, without choosing to get relocated at any cost. They want to go back to their hometowns as dignified returnees from Nepali soil and need a congenial environment for their return. Specifically, this group of refugees expects a lot from you and wants your government to open the actual doors for repatriation either by resuming the installed bilateral talks or internationalizing the issue at the earliest.
It is obvious that every change in government of a host country renews the refugees’ hope to go home with dignity and honour. And, so is the case this time as well. All previous governments assured these people that their issue would be addressed with a top priority. However, the refugees have been forced to satisfy with mere assurances at the end, and without making them feel that the governments have heard their genuine concerns. As what has been advocated by refugee leaders, it would be an appreciating step if your government could form a separate body to handle the refugee problem in Nepal so that the spirit doesn’t fade way as the government changes.
Dear sir, as over 40,000 fellow-countrymen enhance their economic status after resettlement in various resettlement countries, around 3100 asylum seekers from Bhutan have been forced to pass their days without food and facilities, as enjoyed by their friends and relatives, since they lack official recognition due to various reasons. Repeatedly, the local authority assured them of their refugee status and ration, but noting has been turned into action yet. It is well known to you that these people need urgent registration as it is not wise to keep them without any status. They have neither demanded of nationality nor want extra supports. But, they just want their status recognized so that they would be able to enjoy any of the three options –repatriation, resettlement and local integration – independently. There, I pray that your government would immediately start verifying these people and respect their fundamental rights of being recognized by an independent country like Republic Nepal.
Further, I want to inform your government that with the world’s largest resettlement under progress, the donor agencies have started reducing the size of their aid-basket. People have been forced to survive with the minimal facilities, and sometimes the supply is never regular. I must mention here with priority that medical assistance provided to the refugees is far below the expectation and requirement, most of the patients requiring expensive treatments being suggested to fill-up resettlement forms alluring them of better treatment in the resettlement countries.
Lastly, I must avail this opportunity to tell your government that refugee leaders including Tek Nath Rizal, Rongthong Kunley Dorji, and Balaram Poudel among others have been denied issuance or renewal of travel documents. Also, dozens of refugee journalists have been practicing their journalism without press accreditation since a decade as Nepal has not yet recognized their status. Therefore, I request your government to issue travel documents to ease their travel and also explore possibility to recognize refugee journalists on humanitarian grounds.
Thanking you for creating this opportunity to address you an open letter on behalf of the Bhutanese citizens in exile.
Resettled Bhutanese have been reported to be free from any risk as death toll rose to 98 as of Thursday evening in the quake-shattered Christchurch, New Zealand. Authorities said, at least 226 were missing.
Mitra Kumar Rai, who resides some five-kilometer away from the Canterbury Television (CTV) building, which has now turned into a tomb as searchers pulled dozens of bodies, told Bhutan News Service over phone this evening that not a single Bhutanese was reported to have met the ill-fated devastating quake’s effects.
Murray and Kelly James look at their destroyed house in central Christchurch after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake devastated the area. Picture: AP
“The earthquake has not harmed any of our fellow-folks,” Rai said,” However, majority of houses owned by the resettled Bhutanese suffered cracks and breaks.”
According to Rai, those who received major damages have been talking shelter in schools and universities.”My building was not affected,” added Rai, who stays in a wooden building.
The government and rescue teams have been on the ground to recover dead bodies or assist missing, he said, people still fear after-shocks even two days after a 6.3 magnitude quake struck the country’s second-biggest city.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said the death toll was certain to rise, possibly dramatically. “We are very concerned that the death toll may rise much more rapidly than any of us had ever feared,” he said.
“Frankly it looks like a war zone from a helicopter. It’s building after building after building that’s collapsed,” the online edition of the National Post reported quoting Key as saying.
The worst fears centred on the six-story CTV building, which was thought to be the deadliest single collapse with up to 120 people inside, including many missing Japanese students, caught as levels pancaked on to one another, the report said.
Officials said fresh teams from Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Singapore and the United States would allow for an expanded search of three square km littered with flattened buildings.
Reported by Ichha Poudel from Adelaide, Australia, for BNS
