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The Voluntary Migration Form


The Royal Government of Bhutan contends that among other categories of people in the refugee camps in eastern Nepal, there is one category which comprises genuine Bhutanese citizens who have "voluntarily" emigrated from the kingdom "fulfilling" all legal requirements and observing all necessary formalities with regards to orderly legal emigration. According to the government, these individuals have forfeited their citizenship and have lost the right to return to the country. On this basis, the Royal Government of Bhutan aims to disallow the re-entry of a large number of citizens if and when an understanding for repatriation is reached.

The refugee community insists that there has been no instance of "voluntary" migration from Bhutan, and that people have been compelled to leave the country due to direct physical abuse, coercion, threats, harassment and intimidation. The government, on the other hand, maintains that it has documentary evidence; in most cases these include a filled "voluntary" migration forms and agreements between the "emigrants" and the local administration on court paper, duly stamped and witnessed by the local magistrate, along with "joyous" scenes of "emigrants" receiving compensation for their property recorded on video. The following papers include copies of documentation filed in a typical "voluntary" migration case from Surey, Ghalephu District.

Form 1 - Form for voluntary migration
Form 2 - Form letter addressed to Gewog Gup (Village Headman)
Form 3- Form Agreement between local administration and emigrant
Form 4- Form letter addressed to local administrator

PROCEDURE

On the basis of the receipt of the emigration form by the court, the District Magistrate invites the "emigrant" and the district official to sign an Agreement which provides for "compensation" by the government to the "emigrant". In many instances video cameras are on hand to record for the future the actual handing-over of "compensation" , the recipient having been forewarned to display his happiness and joy for the camera. Also in many instances, immediately after the video recording the recipient is relieved of some or all of his "compensation' by officials as deductions on account of children's education, medical services, prison charges at Nu.2,000.00 per month etc. Having completed these formalities the "emigrant" has three days to be out of the country failing which he will have violated the Agreement and will be liable to a fine of Nu.1,000.00 and imprisonment of one year.

The Agreement is witnessed by the head of the district police and the village headman. The procedure for "voluntary" migration begins with the filling up of printed emigration forms conveniently made available to the villager by a considerate local administration in a language that the alleged emigrant does not comprehend. Such forms have never existed before 1991. Neither the government nor sympathisers of the regime are embarrassed over the "coincidence" in the timing of the government's new policies vis-à-vis southern Bhutan and the first-time availability of such convenient forms. The target collections of such completed forms are achieved by various means, including torture of selected persons, harassment and plain deception.

The Voluntary Migration Form On the basis of such a form reportedly filled in by Ran Bahadur Kharga of Lamidara and the forwarding of this to the court by the district administration on 27.12.91, the Chirang District Court on 28.12.91 instructs the village headman of Lamidara using another pre-printed form letter to be present in the court along with the applicant on 31.12.91. On this date, the government "pays compensation" to the emigrant for his land and property, the district administrator and voluntary emigrant sign an Agreement, and the district court relays approval to the district administration to strike that person's name from the records. If the 'emigrant' does not leave the country within three days, he will have violated the agreement and will be liable to punishment and a fine of Nu 1,000.00 according to this letter. All this is accomplished in one day using printed forms that are conveniently available. If these documents are scrutinized a number of striking features which highlight the government's foul plans are easily observed.

1. ALL FORMS ARE PRE-PRINTED

It should strike any observer as strange that standard forms should be available with the government for emigration of people as if it were a routine matter. This is even more astounding considering that the Royal Government claimed, and continues to maintain, that the current problems in Bhutan have resulted from the pressure of illegal immigrants entering the country. If indeed waves of economic migrants have been streaming in throughout these past few decades, why should legal Bhutanese citizens themselves be emigrating suddenly in such large numbers requiring the government to be the prepared with printed forms?

2. ALL FORMS ARE IN DZONGKHA

This must be viewed in the light of the fact that even today all correspondence between the population and the administration in the southern districts is done in Nepali, or in rare cases, English. But, considering the import of the whole issue of "emigration", one would assume that such "voluntary" departures would proceed in a language that the people would be able to follow. It is clearly not a case of chauvinism alone which required that even the very brief form to be filled by those "voluntarily" leaving the country be in Dzongkha, a language that the respondent does not know. According to refugees from Chirang, some were specifically misled by officials into believing that entering this form indicated the respondent's desire to remain, and that it would thus entitle him to stay; others were coerced into agreeing to fill in the forms after other prominent villagers were torture into agreeing to leave the country. Regardless of the manner in which the signature were extracted, the sequence thereafter followed a pattern with the form letters and agreements being produced by the district court on the basis of the filled in migration forms.

3. PRE-PRINTED LETTER NUMBERS, NAMES, DESTINATIONS

A further hint of the manipulative means applied by the government is indicated by the fact that the forms have pre-printed addresses (To the Chirang Dzongda), subject description (Subject: Regarding Persons Leaving Bhutan) and even parts of letter numbers (Letter No.CDA/CENSUS......). That the Chirang Court should be prepared with pre-printed forms which contain part of the letter number of another office (letter No. CDA/CENSUS.......) indicating Chirang Dzongkhag Administration, CENSUS file, clearly reflects overall government supervision and control of the entire operation. A still more sinister plot is unveiled in the standard pre-printed Agreement which, besides containing the same letter number referred above, also has the supposed destination of the alleged emigrant, "Hariya, Jhapa" in Nepal. That the government should be in a position to presume that all alleged emigrants will decide on the same final destination, and accordingly enable the regime to be prepared with ready-made forms with this location pre-printed in all the "Agreements", must surely indicate to any impartial observer that there is nothing "voluntary" in the entire affair.

4. EXTREME EFFICIENCY

For a government which still begs to be forgiven for not being able to count all its citizens, the sheer speed with which the administrative machinery is able to handle cases of "voluntary emigration" is nothing short of a miracle. On the basis of a case filed with the court on behalf of the alleged emigrant by the district administrator on 27/12/91, the entire process investigation, land measurements, "compensation" etc. is completed and the Agreement signed on 31/12/91; this in rural setting where delivery of every letter implies a day's walk for the office messenger. That this has resulted in a number of errors in the particular Agreement enclosed is only understandable (the House Number is wrong during its second and third occurrence and the Thram (land deed) Number is wrongly located on both occasions).