After more than one and a half decades of living in degrading exile, some 60 Bhutanese refugees have left the UNHCR-administered camps in eastern Nepal under the third country resettlement plan. The United States, Canada, Australia, Norway and New Zealand have agreed to take them in. Half of them will be relocated to the United States.

It is unfortunate that 15 rounds of bilateral talks between Nepal and Bhutan did not yield any tangible result. Bhutan refused to take the exiles back. But how long will it block the repatriation process? The joint verification team has proved that they are bona fide Bhutanese refugees. And the verified refugees, who should have been repatriated by December 2003, are preparing to leave for a third country.

The main culprit that prevented them from returning to Bhutan is apparently India. It sided with the Druk dictator, calling the refugee imbroglio a bilateral problem instead of acknowledging it as its own responsibility.

Nepal had earlier set three options--arriving at a solution through bilateral talks, seeking Indian assistance or internationalising the refugee issue. None of them worked.

The refugee leaders were excluded from the Nepal-Bhutan bilateral talks. So the bilateral process became a total failure though Nepal did everything in its power to please Bhutan for a negotiated settlement. Bhutan did not budge an inch from its original stand.

Bhutan is not only India's closest ally, but also a "strategic partner" in the region. As a result, India refused to exert any pressure on Bhutan. This was made amply clear during the Bhutanese king's visit to India in November 2004. The refugee issue was not discussed in Delhi. Bhutan played India's "goodwill" for it against Nepal in all the bilateral talks to its fullest benefit.

The emigres very well understand the cordial Indo-Bhutan friendship and acknowledge that their problem is not India but the India-backed tyrannical and despotic ruler. India has time and again insisted that the Bhutanese refugee issue should be resolved bilaterally.

Nepal should now work for the repatriation of the exiles who are unwilling to resettle in any third country. And there are over 40,000 refugees languishing in India's chicken's neck.

What will be the fate of these 40,000 hapless persons be? Will Bhutan take them back? They are waiting for a political change in their country. Once Bhutan promulgates a new constitution after the parliamentary polls to be held on March 24, the post-parliamentary election should allow the 40,000 Bhutanese to return to their homes.

The host countries must also officially present the issue to the appropriate forums or powers to prevent Bhutan from continuing its ethnic cleansing policy. The international community has commended Nepal tremendously for hosting the refugees. Nepal should take the initiative to bring about a political change in Bhutan so that they can finally return home no matter where they are resettled.