KATHMANDU, May 7: The ongoing scandal involving fake Bhutanese refugees has sent shockwaves through Nepal's political landscape, with allegations of involvement of leaders of both the ruling and opposition parties.
Former Home Secretary Tek Narayan Pandey and former Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa's security advisor Indra Jit Rai have been arrested by the police, while arrest warrants have been issued against UML leader Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, his son Sandeep, former Home Minister Thapa's son Prateek, and security advisor Rai's son Niraj in connection with the scam.
Recent reports have emerged that former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand, his wife Manju Khand, and former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's wife Arzu Deuba also received millions of rupees in connection with the fake Bhutanese refugee scam. However, Khand and Arzu Deuba have denied the allegations.
There is a growing demand for an investigation into the matter, and many parliamentarians have called for action against those involved. Over 100 complaints against fraud of over Rs 230 million have filed with the police as investigation revealed that each candidate seeking to go to the US were made to pay between Rs 1 million to Rs 5 million.
During the first meeting of the budget session on Sunday, several lawmakers expressed concern about the scandal and demanded that the government identify and prosecute the individuals responsible. Nepal Workers' and Peasants Party (NWPP) lawmaker Prem Suwal emphasized the need for transparency and urged the government to inform the parliament about the fraudsters involved in the case.
Dr Amaresh Kumar Singh, an independent lawmaker, alleged that former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand was directly involved in the fake refugee scam and demanded an all-powerful inquiry commission to investigate all forms of corruption.
BRRC calls for fair probe into fake Bhutanese refugee scam
CPN-UML Chief Whip Padam Giri acknowledged that the party had previously raised the issue in the National Assembly and expressed support for investigating corruption and irregularities. UML Whip Mahesh Bartaula accused the government of protecting those affiliated with the ruling parties and targeting only UML members in the fake Bhutanese refugee scam.
Bartaula called for a transparent investigation and criticized the concealment of the accused's statements. Similarly, UML lawmaker Surya Bahadur Thapa asked the prime minister to clarify who is under pressure regarding the scandal.
Also addressing the house meeting, CPN (Maoist Centre) lawmaker Madhav Sapkota urged the opposition parties not to politicize the issue and demanded justice for the accused UML Secretary Top Bahadur Rayamajhi. Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) lawmaker Ranju Kumari Jha expressed regret over the presence of human traffickers in parliament and criticized the division of ruling and opposition parties on the issue.
Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) lawmaker Hari Dhakal called for a commission to investigate corruption in the past 33 years, while CPN (Unified Socialist) lawmaker Metmani Chaudhary demanded that the government investigate the criminal acts committed in connection with the fake Bhutanese refugees and bring the former prime minister under scrutiny.
How did this issue come to the public?
In 1990, a group of Bhutanese people fled their country and entered Nepal via India, settling in Jhapa and Morang. The government reported that there were approximately 120,000 Bhutanese refugees in Nepal before they were relocated to a third country. A total of 113,307 people had resettled in various countries as of 2018, leaving 6,577 registered Bhutanese refugees still in camps in Nepal.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office in Damak, which was assisting refugees, closed in 2020, and the World Food Program (WFP) ended cash and food support in December 2018.
In July 2019, the government, led by KP Sharma Oli, formed a Task Force under the coordination of Bal Krishna Panthi to study and gather more evidence about refugees who were left out of the registration process for various reasons.
After the Task Force was formed, a gang operating in Jhapa, Morang, Sunsari, Dang, Gorkha, Baglung, and other districts began taking money from Nepalis, promising to register them as fake Bhutanese refugees and send them to the United States. The gang allegedly collected between Rs 1 million to Rs 5 million from Nepalis in the name of sending them to the US under the guise of Bhutanese refugees.
The Task Force's report has not been made public, but it has been discovered that the gang collected money by adding names to the report prepared by the Task Force and distributed copies to victims to reassure them.
Sagar Rai, a ward chair in Pathari Sanischare-10, was arrested by the police during the investigation, and it was discovered that he was looking for people willing to pay to go to the US as fake Bhutanese refugees.
Police received complaints from 145 people, who handed between Rs 1 million to 5 million to the gang, with some selling their houses to fulfill their American dream. Despite repeated assurances, they did not receive refugee identity cards or information about the process.
The police investigation found that names of Nepalis were added to the report in collusion with the top Home Ministry officials. The initial report prepared by the Panthi-led Task Force recommended that the Home Ministry issue identity cards to 429 people who missed verification.
However, the Ram Bahadur Thapa-led Home Ministry requested re-verification from the District Administration Offices of Jhapa and Morang, and the number of refugees changed repeatedly. The fake Bhutanese refugees were later shown their names on the refugee list, but the process to leave Nepal did not start, causing worry and frustration among them.
Earlier in April, police had arrested five people on the charge of cheating people in the name of sending them to the US as Bhutanese refugees.
Police had arrested Sandesh Sharma of Dang, Keshav Dulal and Sagar Rai of Morang, Sanu Bhandari of Lalitpur and Kumar Gurung of Panchthar. Based on the statements given by the arrested, the police were able to nab the high-profile individuals last week.
