It?s worrisome that the Bhutanese refugee problem has been left to fester by both Nepali and Bhutanese governments. As Bhutan's foreign policy is dictated by India and many of the Bhutanese refugess were dumped on Nepali soil by Indian authorities (lest they took refuge in India and became India's headache), India holds the key to the resolution of the refugee problem. It is, however, sad that India has chosen to remain silent on this matter. This probably indicates that *Bhutan's impeccably groomed and highly educated lobbyists are working New Delhi's power corridors thousands of times better than their Nepali counterparts. *King Jigme Singe Wangchuk enjoys enviable friendship with India Congress, in particular with the powerful Gandhi family. King Jigme Singe Wangchuk visited India on their Republic Day as a Chief Guest, so one can pretty much imagine to what extent Bhutan goes to curry India's patronage and favour. Contrast our late King Birendra's relationship (hostile) and King Jigme Singe Wangchuk's relationship (friendly) with the late PM Rajiv Gandhi. History repeats itself. The Nepali government is suffering from paralysis from the chin down ? they can only talk the talk but can not walk the talk. Our current foreign minister said that he has spoken on the phone with his Bhutanese counterpart about restarting the stalled negotiation, but we?ve all been through this movie before. Rumour (emanating from Bhutan) has it that it is not in the Nepali government's interest to resolve this problem when the country is receiving millions of dollars in refugee aid every year. Rumors of infilteration of refugee camps by spies working for the Bhutanese government are also rife. Rumor is, the beating of some members of the Bhutanese Joint Verification Team that effectively killed the negotiation and repatriation process was actually orchestrated by the spies working for the Bhutanese government. Clearly, Bhutan's divide-and-stall-the bilateral-talk strategy has worked so far. Whatever the veracity of these rumors, fact is the state of Nepali diaspora both inside and outside Bhutan [in refugee camps] is pitiful to say the least. Those inside Bhutan are discriminated against and have no voice [lest they too are expelled]. Nepal-Channel was allowed in Bhutan once upon a time, today it is banned. While Bhutan has radio news programmes in Nepali language and the Nepali edition of Kuensel paper, esp in the South (Samsi and Chirang), their days are probably numbered. Their king doesn?t celebrate Dashain among his Nepali-Bhutanese subjects like HE used to . Many Nepali-Bhutanese girls have taken to prostitution in and around Thimphu and the guys are primarily employed in the informal sector because they have no proper documents. Stone pounding on the river banks and hillsides is also common but with Bhutan?s legendary sensitivity to environmental protection - that too may be short-lived. No matter how many times these paperless Nepali-Bhutanese go to their administrative centres, they return empty handed, because they have no 'afno manchhe'. Just like in Nepal. Without the necessary papers, they cannot access government services such as public school education and other entitlements. They are increasingly marginalized. Many have had to quit schools because they have no papers. Moreover, Nepali-Bhutanese are barred from serving in Bhutan's royal army. Being a small country, their paranoia is justified...but still, without India backing Bhutan they need not fear. In short, the Nepali-Bhutanese living in Bhutan for the most part (except those in civil service or the affluent) are like third-class citizens. For all the hoopla about Bhutan?s new constitution (still on anvil) and increasing democratisation, plurality will continue to be a challenge to Bhutan, especially with regards to how it treats its Nepali-Bhutanese residents and proceeds to resolve the refugee problem.