SOUTH ASIA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

2201based in the Department of Women and Children’s Affairs, plans to be the focalpoint for addressing the prosecution, protection, and prevention activities carriedout by the Government. A goal of the project is for the Government to become moreinvolved in arresting and prosecuting traffickers. However, because the Governmentdoes not keep records of births and marriages at the village level, it is very difficultfor authorities to detect false claims of marriage or family ties.The Government has expressed concern about the problem and has worked withNGO’s, donor countries, and international organizations against trafficking. Some ofthese projects include conducting awareness campaigns, research, lobbying, and rescueand rehabilitation programs. While the Government provides support for returningtrafficking victims, governmentrun shelters generally are inadequate and poorlyrun. Increasing shelter capacity and rehabilitation programs is one of the featuresof the NORAD project.Throughout the country, a variety of NGO’s and community-based organizationsare working on the trafficking problem through prevention efforts, research, datacollection, documentation, advocacy, awareness creation and networking, cross-bordercollaboration, legal enforcement, rescue, rehabilitation, reintegration, incomegeneration and low-interest loan programs, vocational training, and legislative reform.Among the NGO’s that have been active in addressing the problem, the Associationfor Community Development conducted a study on trafficking issues andconducted workshops and outreach programs aimed at reaching potential victims oftrafficking before they are trafficked. The Bangladesh National Women Lawyer’s Association(BNWLA) conducts awareness programs aimed at alerting poor persons tothe dangers of trafficking through leaflets, stickers, and posters. The BNWLA alsoprovides legal assistance to trafficking victims, and initiates legal action againsttraffickers. The BNWLA runs a shelter home for trafficked women and children thatprovides health care, counseling, and training. The Center for Women and Children(CWCS) has networks to monitor trafficking across the country, conducts awarenessmeetings, and has a pilot project to make police aware of the rights of women andchildren. Awareness of trafficking is increasing, and the topic receives frequentpress coverage. Two umbrella organizations of anti-trafficking NGO’s exist, and areseeking to improve coordination and planning of efforts against the problem.BHUTANBhutan is ruled by a hereditary monarch, King Jigme Singye Wangchuk, who governswith the support of a National Assembly and a Council of Ministers; there isno written constitution to protect fundamental political and human rights. Since ascendingto the throne in 1972, the King has continued efforts toward social and politicalmodernization begun by his father. In the last few years, Bhutan has improvedrapidly services in education, health care, sanitation, and communications,with parallel but slower developments of the role of representatives in governanceand decision making. In recent years, Bhutan has adopted some measures to transferpower from the King to the National Assembly. The judiciary is not independentof the King.Approximately two-thirds of the government-declared population of 600,000 personsis composed of Buddhists with cultural traditions akin to those of Tibet. TheBuddhist majority consists of two principal ethnic and linguistic groups: theNgalongs of the western part of the country and the Sharchops of the eastern partof the country. The remaining third of the population, ethnic Nepalis, most of whomare Hindus, live in the country’s southern districts. Bhutanese dissident groupsclaim that the actual population is between 650,000 and 700,000 persons and thatthe Government underreports the number of ethnic Nepalese in the country. Therapid growth of this ethnic Nepalese segment of the population led some in the Buddhistmajority to fear for the survival of their culture. Government efforts to institutepolicies designed to preserve the cultural dominance of the Ngalong ethnicgroup, to change citizenship requirements, and to control illegal immigration resultedin political protests and led to ethnic conflict and repression of ethnic Nepalesein southern districts during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. Tens of thousandsof ethnic Nepalese left the country in 1991–92, many of whom were expelled forcibly.According to U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), there were 98,269ethnic Nepalese in 7 refugee camps in eastern Nepal as of late June; upwards of15,000 reside outside of the camps in the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal.The Government maintains that some of those in the camps never were citizens,and therefore have no right to return. In 1998 the Government began resettlingBuddhist Bhutanese from other regions of the country on land in southern districtsVerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:46 Sep 20, 2001 Jkt 071555 PO 00000 Frm 00045 Fmt 6601 Sfmt 6621 F:\WORK\COUNTRYR\S71555\71555.035 HINTREL1 PsN: HINTREL1