Thursday, January 17, 2013
Jhapa’s refugee woes—then and now
The following article was published in Republica on January 12, 2012 with the title "In another country". The unedited version is below.
Jhapa’s refugee woes—then and now
Bhutani
refugee influx in eastern Nepal made many Jhapalis unhappy two decades ago.
Local governments were not ready to accommodate a large influx of people. As a
result, public service delivery got stretched to its limits. The incoming
group’s different cultural background brought frequent conflicts between locals
and refugees. Slowly, the locals and the refugees adjusted to the situation,
and the locals even employed refugees as cheap labor in construction and
agriculture. However, now that many refugees have started relocating to western
countries, many Jhapalis are unhappy, again.
It is
not that there were no local conflicts in Jhapa before the refugees arrived.
Arrival of Bhutani refugees and their subsequent resettlement in the eastern
camps further aggravated many social problems in Jhapa. Youth unemployment was
already a significant problem. After their arrival, the refugees provided their
labor and services for cheap since they were not legally permitted to work. Local
unemployed youths did not view this favorably, and conflict ensued.
Refugees
were also accused of bringing with them an acceptance of a culture of taking in
multiple spouses. Elders in local
communities in Jhapa disapproved of this practice among the refugees. However,
in the last two decades, the practice has seeped into local culture. As a
result, recent generations of locals in communities next to refugee camps have
also started taking in multiple wives. That has created conflict between older and
younger generations of locals in communities surrounding the refugee camps in
Jhapa.
Locals
in surrounding communities also mention that, in comparison to the local
population, the refugees were knowledgeable about medicinal herbs. They could
identify medicinal herbs and plants in the forests around the camps. Since they
were not allowed to work legally, refugees took to the forests and collected
these herbs, and sold them as a way to earn an income. As a result, locals still
accuse refugees of overharvesting local forests of essential herbs which
ultimately affects the wellbeing of the forests.
Because
their incomes were limited, refugees could not afford fuels and resorted to
getting firewood from nearby community forests. As a result, locals still accuse
them of destroying local community forests through excessive cattle grazing and
cutting trees for firewood. The illegal use of community forests’ resources created
a variety of conflicts between the refugee population and the locals. While blaming
refugees for deforestation family and friends of a refugee that died in the
camp were declined necessary wood for cremation by the locals and community
forestry groups in multiple occasions.
Life
continued in the refugee camps and in surrounding communities despite, even
amidst, various disagreements and conflicts. Slowly the two sides learnt to
live with each other. However, the locals who had failed to adapt to changing
conditions had hoped that rehabilitation efforts by various agencies, such as the
International Organization for Migration, would take care of the refugee
nuisance, thus bringing the good old peaceful times back. But, current
rehabilitation and resettlement efforts for refugees have not brought desired
peace and harmony back in the local communities. Instead, resettlement efforts
have brought new sets of problems.
There
has been an increase in intra-camp conflicts between refugees who want to leave
and those who don’t. Those who wish to leave cannot be faulted for their choice
because they have remained stateless for over two decades now with no hopes of
getting citizenship rights in Nepal. For the sake of their own future and of
their children’s, resettlement to America, Canada or Australia is an enticing
offer as it opens an opportunity of citizenship and larger rights instead of
becoming stateless citizen for who knows how many more years. Also, many have
accepted the reality that it seems highly unlikely Bhutan will ever accept them
back.
However,
a group of refugees who choose to stay behind in the camps abhor these asylum
seekers. Those who have decided to stay behind claim doing so in order to keep
fighting for their principles and rights. They believe that seeking asylum in
the west represents a win for the brutal Bhutani monarchy and a defeat for
those who champion democratic ideals. Resettlement has polarized the camp
population into factions, increasing intra-camp conflicts. Many have been hurt,
a few even killed, during demonstrations and subsequent altercations between
the two groups.
Those that
have successfully resettled in the western countries frequently send remittance
money to their friends and family left behind in the camps in Jhapa. While remittance money helps refugees in the
camps to afford essentials and luxury goods which were beyond their means
earlier, it has also fueled an increase in drug use among camp members
according to the locals in the surrounding communities. As a result, locals
accuse those left behind in camps as being “criminal” types who are going to affect
and spoil the current and next generation of locals. Such accusations have further
increased conflicts between refugees and locals.
There
are also economic impacts due to resettlement efforts. Local entrepreneurs who
had bought land and built shops by spending exorbitant amounts near camp sites
have suffered huge losses after resettlement efforts. Land and rent prices have
fallen sharply in the surrounding areas. Local youths who went for employment
overseas because they could not compete with cheap refugee laborers aren’t
coming back to work locally. So, local businesses now face difficulty finding sufficient
labor. And, so, the local communities in Jhapa, surrounding the refugee camp
sites, are back to being unhappy, again.
Labels: Jhapa, refugees, resettlement, unemployment
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Links for August 24, 2011
.
1. Korean Language Test results out
*50,043 applicants had taken the test
*only 15,298 passed
*13,298 applicants will work in production related job and remaining 2,000 in agriculture sector
*South Korea is a lucrative destination for Nepali workers with a monthly average income of $1,000
2.Deposits in commercial banks up in Q4
3. Chinese team to study Ring Road widening has arrived in Kathmandu
4. Indian overland tourist arrivals up 74pc
*298,821 Indian tourists visited Nepal in 2009 via land routes
*520,522 Indian tourists visited Nepal in 2010 via land routes
*This is a 74 percent increase
*154,086 third-country tourists entered Nepal by land in 2010
*Major entry points for Indian tourists were: Vittamod (Janakpur) with 17 percent, Birgunj with 13 percent, Kakarbhitta with 8 percent, Biratnagar with 5 percent, Nepalgunj and Mahendranagar with 3 percent each and Dhangadhi with 1 percent.
*96,928 vehicles entered Nepal through eight border points in 2010, an increment of 22 percent over the previous year's figures.
*46 percent of tourists coming via Indian land routes came by public bus and 39 percent by private vehicles.
*For 2010:
Entry Point // Number of Tourists // Percent Of the total
Birgunj // 89,544 // 13 Percent
Vittamod (Janakpur) // 112,038 // 17 Percent
Kakkarbhitta // 55,098 // 8 Percent
Biratnagar // 32,320 // 5 Percent
Nepalgunj // 17,919 // 3 Percent
Dhangadhi // 8,730 // 1 Percent
Mahendranagar // 21,117 // 3 Percent
Bhairahawa // 337,842 // 50 Percent
5. BFIs barred from opening accounts amongst themselves
According to the NRB:
6. Whole-Genome Study proves that Nepalese UN-peacekeepers brought Cholera to Haiti that has killed 6000 people so far
7. Bhutanese refugee numbers in Nepal nearly halved after re-settlement overseas
8. New Hydropower rules in Nepal makes it difficult for Indian investors to invest in Nepal
1. Korean Language Test results out
*50,043 applicants had taken the test
*only 15,298 passed
*13,298 applicants will work in production related job and remaining 2,000 in agriculture sector
*South Korea is a lucrative destination for Nepali workers with a monthly average income of $1,000
2.Deposits in commercial banks up in Q4
RBB, which has the highest deposit base among commercial banks, saw its deposits rise 13.44 percent in Q4 against a growth of 4.02 percent in the previous quarter. The bank collected deposits worth Rs 8.75 billion during Q4. RBB’s total deposits as of the end of fiscal 2010-11 amounted to Rs 73.92 billion.
Nepal Bank Limited collected more than Rs 4.47 billion in deposits during Q4. Its total deposits at the end of fiscal 2010-11 stood at Rs 46.80 billion, up 10.56 percent from the previous quarter.
Agricultural Development Bank saw its deposits going up 6.17 percent in the last quarter against a growth of 1.61 percent in previous quarter.
3. Chinese team to study Ring Road widening has arrived in Kathmandu
The 18-member team has geotechnical engineers, traffic engineers, material engineers and other technical experts.
The team will spend 40 days in Kathmandu to do a survey for widening 9.5 km of the 27-km long Ring Road in the first phase.
The Ring Road improvement project will upgrade the current four-lane road to eight lanes (a four-lane, two-way main road, a four-lane, two-way relief road, a two-way bicycle path and a two-way pedestrian path, including bus stations and parking lots).
The road widening work is expected to be completed by 2013 utilising resources received as grant assistance from China annually.
On Feb 28, 2011, the Chinese government had agreed to provide a grant assistance of RMB 50 million (Rs 547 million) for widening the Ring Road and other projects. The technical team will design a simple urban flyover; three pedestrian overpasses will also be built. Even though the locations for the flyover and overpasses have not been fixed, the project is likely to select Kalanki Chowk to build the flyover with a signalised intersection underneath for pedestrians.
4. Indian overland tourist arrivals up 74pc
*298,821 Indian tourists visited Nepal in 2009 via land routes
*520,522 Indian tourists visited Nepal in 2010 via land routes
*This is a 74 percent increase
*154,086 third-country tourists entered Nepal by land in 2010
*Major entry points for Indian tourists were: Vittamod (Janakpur) with 17 percent, Birgunj with 13 percent, Kakarbhitta with 8 percent, Biratnagar with 5 percent, Nepalgunj and Mahendranagar with 3 percent each and Dhangadhi with 1 percent.
*96,928 vehicles entered Nepal through eight border points in 2010, an increment of 22 percent over the previous year's figures.
*46 percent of tourists coming via Indian land routes came by public bus and 39 percent by private vehicles.
*For 2010:
Entry Point // Number of Tourists // Percent Of the total
Birgunj // 89,544 // 13 Percent
Vittamod (Janakpur) // 112,038 // 17 Percent
Kakkarbhitta // 55,098 // 8 Percent
Biratnagar // 32,320 // 5 Percent
Nepalgunj // 17,919 // 3 Percent
Dhangadhi // 8,730 // 1 Percent
Mahendranagar // 21,117 // 3 Percent
Bhairahawa // 337,842 // 50 Percent
5. BFIs barred from opening accounts amongst themselves
According to the NRB:
Financial institutions should collect deposits and lend...If they park their deposits in other institutions, it will create anomalies. Therefore, we have decided to stop itI believe this is a good step by the NRB especially because:
NRB’s latest statistics show that commercial banks have deposits worth Rs 670 billion, development banks Rs 90 billion and finance companies Rs 84 billion.
6. Whole-Genome Study proves that Nepalese UN-peacekeepers brought Cholera to Haiti that has killed 6000 people so far
7. Bhutanese refugee numbers in Nepal nearly halved after re-settlement overseas
8. New Hydropower rules in Nepal makes it difficult for Indian investors to invest in Nepal
Labels: ADBL, Bhutan, china, cholera, haiti, hydroppower, korean language test, liquidity, migration, NBB, nepal rastra bank, refugees, ring road, tourism
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Links for August 18, 2011
.
1. Nepal Rastra Bank's Governor, Dr Yubraj Khatiwada, advises the BFIs to regulate themselves.
This is very worrying to hear from the Governor. I agree, in general, about BFIs having to pay more heed in keeping their books and lending/borrowing practices balanced. But, asking the BFIs to "regulate" themselves is precisely the reason why de-regulated economies like the US and Europe suffered the financial crisis in 2007. The governor should be careful before dispensing such risky suggestions.
2. A nice article about inflationary expectations (using the US example)
3. Here's an excellent question: Is Nepal turning into a "constitutional anarchy"?
4. Surya Nepal shuts down its factory in Biratnagar that produces world famous brands--John Players and Springwood. Usually, I am a pro-union guy, but this incident shows how Nepalese tend to take the union concept to its extreme and hack our own legs.
5. 50,000th Bhutanese refugee leaves Nepal to settle overseas. Personally, I see a failure of Nepalese diplomats to talk with their Indian counterparts to solve this crisis. It's a shame. The Bhutanese should have been able to go back to where they belonged--in their own country, Bhutan. But, failure of Indian and Nepalese diplomats hurt these refugees for the last two decades.
6. ICRA to begin credit rating in Nepal
7. Nepal's credit rating. The world bank paper is here (PDF document).
1. Nepal Rastra Bank's Governor, Dr Yubraj Khatiwada, advises the BFIs to regulate themselves.
This is very worrying to hear from the Governor. I agree, in general, about BFIs having to pay more heed in keeping their books and lending/borrowing practices balanced. But, asking the BFIs to "regulate" themselves is precisely the reason why de-regulated economies like the US and Europe suffered the financial crisis in 2007. The governor should be careful before dispensing such risky suggestions.
2. A nice article about inflationary expectations (using the US example)
3. Here's an excellent question: Is Nepal turning into a "constitutional anarchy"?
4. Surya Nepal shuts down its factory in Biratnagar that produces world famous brands--John Players and Springwood. Usually, I am a pro-union guy, but this incident shows how Nepalese tend to take the union concept to its extreme and hack our own legs.
5. 50,000th Bhutanese refugee leaves Nepal to settle overseas. Personally, I see a failure of Nepalese diplomats to talk with their Indian counterparts to solve this crisis. It's a shame. The Bhutanese should have been able to go back to where they belonged--in their own country, Bhutan. But, failure of Indian and Nepalese diplomats hurt these refugees for the last two decades.
6. ICRA to begin credit rating in Nepal
7. Nepal's credit rating. The world bank paper is here (PDF document).
Labels: Bhutan, central bank of nepal, credit rating, inflation, nepal rastra bank, refugees
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
