Key Points
- High-profile leaders and government officials were arrested in Nepal for allegedly using state mechanisms to scam citizens.
- So far, 32 arrest warrants have been issued, with three accused already being presented before the courts.
- Bhutani refugee community members in Australia have expressed concern at the situation unfolding.
Police in Nepal last month arrested 17 people, including high-profile political leaders, for allegedly taking bribes to reclassify Nepali citizens as Bhutani refugees so they could resettle in the United States.
Former Nepali Deputy Prime Minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand, and Tek Narayan Pandey, the secretary at the Office of the Vice President, are some of the high-profile names that have been arrested.
A leader of Bhutani refugees and human rights activist, Tek Nath Rizal, was also remanded in custody.
Nepal Police say the investigation has been underway for over a year after they received complaints from Nepali citizens claiming they were scammed into believing they would be resettled in the United States as Bhutani refugees.
So far, 32 arrest warrants have been issued, with three of the accused already being presented before the courts.
SBS Nepali understands the Australian Government is aware of reports that fake refugee ID cards were issued to Nepali people to migrate to the US and is closely monitoring the situation for any impacts on Australia.
The Lhotsampas
A file photo of Bhutani refugees travelling to participate in a protest rally organised by National Front for Democracy, Bhutan (NFD- Bhutan) at Kakarvitta, in eastern Nepal, some 575 kilometres (359 miles) from capital Kathmandu, Nepal in 2007. Source: AP / TAMAL ROY/AP
According to the Department of Home Affairs, from Nepal under its Humanitarian Program as part of a coordinated international strategy to resolve the long-standing situation.
Victorian Parsuram Sharma-Luital is one such successfully resettled refugee.
He now chairs the Refugee Communities Association of Australia (RCAA), a peak body working for the welfare of refugees in Australia.
Parsuram Sharma-Luital (third from right). Credit: Parsuram Sharma Luital
“It might seed the doubt (among the wider community) ‘are they indeed refugees’?” he said.
A spokesperson for Australia's Department of Home Affairs (DHA), however, said each application is considered on its individual merit using current and comprehensive information on circumstances in the relevant country.
“Australia does not return individuals to situations where they face persecution or a real risk of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, arbitrary deprivation of life or the application of the death penalty,” the spokesperson said.
'Durable solutions'
Sharma-Luital said while the resettlement process officially ended in 2017, the UNHCR had offered an option known as the “”.
“(Before 2017) there were three options: one is to go back to the home country (Bhutan), the second option being third country resettlement, and the last one being local integration (Nepal),” he said.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) ended the third country program (under the durable solutions) in 2017.Parsuram Sharma-Luital
With the closure of that option, he said the only way remaining Bhutani refugees could resettle in a third country was via “alternative pathways”, namely family reunion and community sponsorship.
The Australian government has kept the option of family reunion open until now, and some of our people are still trickling in on this basis while many more are applying.Parsuram Sharma-Luital
On the other hand, Australia has been prioritising the cohorts of refugees with a focus on people outside their home country, assessed as refugees by the UNHCR and referred for resettlement when proposed by a close family member already in Australia.
“Any person, including Nepal nationals, who believes they meet the requirements for a humanitarian visa and wishes to seek Australia’s assistance can make an application," the DHA spokesperson said.
Each application is considered on its merit using current and comprehensive information on circumstances in the relevant country.Department of Home Affairs
‘A shock’ to Australia’s Bhutani refugee community
Bhutani refugee community members in Australia have expressed concern at the situation unfolding.
Khadga Thapa came to Australia with his family in March 2010.
After living in a Nepali refugee camp for two decades, he now calls Hobart home.
Khadga Thapa Source: Facebook / Muthu Guna's Videography and Photography via Khadga Thapa
Speaking to SBS Nepali, Thapa said his community is upset about the news of these allegations and arrests.
"The involvement of high-level officials from the Nepal government is an atrocity for the Bhutani community," he believes.
Genuine refugees are still staying in camps and applying to resettle in a third country, and some citizens are using fake identities to enter foreign lands. I consider this to be extreme corruption.Khadga Thapa
He said that his relatives who are still in camps in Nepal have not had the opportunity to resettle in a third country.
Indra Adhikari is another resettled Bhutani refugee.
The South Australian expressed shock at the allegations and arrests.
"(Our) trust in Nepal is broken," he said.
It is very sad that high-profile people are involved.Indra Adhikari
‘Escaping is not easy’
Kiran Nepal, the editor of the Centre for Investigative Journalism Nepal (CIJ), said that although the fake refugee scam only came to light recently, there were already reports in the media of "artifice thuggery".
“Two of the people arrested had already been nabbed by the police and charged with deception fraud some eight or nine months ago,” he said.
But we did not know of the systematic rorting, the extent of the state mechanism and people in high positions carrying out such an act then. We thought it was a kind of scam happening in the overseas employment sector (in Nepal).Kiran Nepal, Centre for Investigative Journalism Nepal
Kiran Nepal is the editor of the Centre for Investigative Journalism Nepal (CIJ) Credit: Supplied
But Kiran Nepal believes this time the case is too big for the accused, if proven guilty, to escape lightly.
“Public distrust is one thing, but due to the weight of the case, there is no possibility of easy acquittal,” he said.
According to about 85 per cent of refugees are resettled in the United States.
