Nepal Court Convicts Former Ministers in Fake Bhutan Refugee Scam

KATHMANDU-A Nepali court has convicted former deputy prime minister Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and former interior minister Bal Krishna Khand over a scheme that falsely promised Nepali citizens overseas resettlement by portraying them as Bhutanese refugees, marking a major development in one of the country’s most prominent fraud cases. The Kathmandu District Court delivered the verdict on Tuesday, with sentencing scheduled for July 13, according to court officials.

The Kathmandu District Court found Rayamajhi guilty of offences against the state, fraud and organized crime, court information officer Shiva Khatiwada said. Khand was convicted as an accomplice in the same case, which involved a broader network accused of exploiting people seeking opportunities to migrate abroad.

In total, the court convicted at least 15 defendants in connection with what has become widely known in Nepal as the fake Bhutanese refugee scam. Seven other defendants were acquitted, Khatiwada told AFP.

According to the prosecution’s case, those involved collected large sums of money from Nepali citizens by promising to present them as eligible Bhutanese refugees, enabling them to qualify for international resettlement programs that had already ended. The promised relocation never materialized, leaving hundreds of victims without either migration opportunities or the money they had paid, according to Nepali media reports cited in the source material.

The fraudulent operation emerged after the closure of an international third-country resettlement initiative that had relocated tens of thousands of Bhutanese refugees from camps in Nepal. Investigators allege the accused exploited public awareness of that earlier program by falsely claiming they could still secure overseas resettlement through fabricated refugee documentation.

The case has its roots in a decades-long refugee crisis involving the Lhotshampa, an ethnic Nepali community from Bhutan. More than 100,000 ethnic Nepalis fled Bhutan during the early 1990s after policies introduced by the Himalayan kingdom made national dress compulsory and restricted the use of the Nepali language.

The Nepali-speaking Lhotshampa were classified as immigrants and stripped of citizenship rights after Bhutan’s “One Nation, One People” policy was introduced in 1985. Many subsequently settled in refugee camps in eastern Nepal while diplomatic efforts sought a resolution to their status.

After years of negotiations failed to secure large-scale repatriation to Bhutan, an international third-country resettlement program operated between 2007 and 2018. The majority of refugees were resettled in the United States, while thousands of others moved to countries including Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several European nations.

Authorities say the criminal scheme only began after that internationally supported resettlement process had concluded. The accused allegedly targeted Nepali citizens by claiming they could still gain access to overseas relocation through false refugee identities, despite the official program having already closed.

Nepali police launched the investigation after several alleged victims filed complaints, leading to the first arrests in March 2023. The investigation subsequently expanded into one of the country’s highest-profile corruption and fraud cases because of the involvement of senior political figures and former government officials.

Tuesday’s ruling represents the latest judicial milestone in the case, with those convicted expected to learn their sentences when the Kathmandu District Court reconvenes on July 13.