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Pawan Paudel | Damauli

Under relentless pressure of the United Nations and western countries, the government has made it tough for the North Koreans working in Nepal, many of them illegally, to renew their visas. As a result, the visas of the North Korean nationals employed in various IT companies in Kathmandu have not been extended.

The United Nations had written to the government around a month ago, calling on Nepal to comply with the UN’s sanctions regime against North Korea.
A joint committee comprised of members from the Home Ministry, the Department of Immigration, and the Ministry of Industry has been formed to take stock of North Korean investments in Nepal.

The Home Ministry has also directed the Immigration Department not to renew the visas of over a dozen North Korean nationals who have been living in Nepal without valid permits. Among them are eight doctors of the North Korea-run hospital in Damauli.

Ne-Koryo Hospital in Damauli has stopped its operations as none of its eight doctors could get their work permits renewed. A hospital employee informed that operations had to be stopped following a Nepal Medical Council directive. (Doctors in Nepal require a license from Nepal Medical Council to examine patients.)
When the Tanahun district administration ran an investigation three weeks ago, they found that four doctors were working in the hospital even after their work permits had expired a month before. The four other doctors’ work permits were going to expire by the next month. When the permits of all the doctors expired, the hospital closed down.

Government officers inform that in previous investigations, too, the hospital, operated under the direct watch of the North Korean Embassy in Kathmandu, was found to be flouting many medical and visa regulations.

Nepali employees of the hospital are being given paid holidays until the matter is resolved. An employee, requesting anonymity, says that the hospital manager asked them to return to work only when they were called.

Meanwhile, the manager and eight doctors have come to Kathmandu. Says Assistant Chief District Officer of Tanahun Tulasi Ram Poudel, “We asked hospital officials to complete formalities, not to shut down operations.”

Kuk-Son Song, the ‘manager’ of the hospital says the hospital is not permanently closed and operations have been halted only for a few days. He says the eight doctors are taking a rest as their blood pressure had suddenly risen. “This is an internal matter. We will resolve it soon and the hospital will come back into operation,” he says.

Another hospital employee informed that doctors’ work permit renewal requests were sent much before the expiry of their permits. “There is still no sign of the applications being renewed though,” he says.

The Home Ministry has stopped the celebrations of the Dalai Lama’s 84th birthday that falls on July 6, Saturday. The celebrations were to be held at the Mustang Samaj Monastery in Swayambhu, Kathmandu.

The District Administration Office Kathmandu rejected the request of the Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office at Lazimpath that it be allowed to hold the annual celebrations. The office says no anti-China activity will be allowed on Nepali soil.

“The Tibetan community had asked for our permission for the celebrations. We did not give the permit,” said Ram Prasad Acharya, Kathmandu’s Chief District Administrative Officer.

A representative of the Tibetan spiritual leader and the coordinator of the Tibetan refugee camps in Nepal Tsultrim Gyatso said: “We did not organize the program with a political motive. It is objectionable to stop a program that was being held on the basis of our religious beliefs.”

The Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office had invited the ambassadors of the US, the UK, Japan and other European countries to the program.

Ahead of the third edition of the joint Nepal-China military drills in Nepal planned for August-September, Nepal Army Chief Purna Chandra Thapa is leaving on a week-long China visit starting June 16. Thapa is going at the invitation of China’s People’s Liberation Army, in what will be his first China trip as the CoAS. During the visit, there is likely to be new impetus on implementation of past agreements on military cooperation between the two armies, with a focus on humanitarian efforts and disaster relief, said an NA source. Shambhu Kattel

Nepal has been a member state of the United Nations since 1955. It is as such obliged to abide by its charter and sanctions. The global body has over the years imposed various sanctions on the North Korean regime for its develop­ment of nuclear weapons and its vio­lations of the UN charter. This is why no UN member country can in any way abet the North Korean regime in its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Nepal seems to be in violation of these sanctions.

Nepal is host to dozens if not hundreds of North Korean nation­als. Most of them came here on legal business visas and have since opened up various businesses, most notably four restaurants, a couple of IT companies and even a hospital in Damauli in Tanahun district. But the majority of the North Koreans employed by these establishments have no work permits. Many busi­ness visas have lapsed too.

For instance, 14 North Koreans currently work at the Botonggang Restaurant and Bar at Kamaladi, Kathmandu. None has a work per­mit. Korea Pyongyang Arirang in Durbar Marg is another restaurant where North Koreans are working without a permit. Under Nepali laws, foreign investors are allowed to stay here on business visas, but their employees have to have work permits.

The majority of the North Koreans employed by these establishments have no work permits

Most North Koreans working in Nepal are on business (not work) visas, and the North Korean Embas­sy in Kathmandu facilitates their stay and work here. The fear is that their investments in Nepal could end up in the hands of the rough North Korean regime, which is notorious for operating illegal businesses in other countries to cover its expenses at home.

North Korean entrepreneurs have been steadily expanding their invest­ment in Nepal, even though the UN has repeatedly asked us to enforce its sanctions against North Korea. So have the US, Japan, South Korea and a number of European countries.

No one really knows what North Korean workers do while they are in Nepal

Besides the UN, the US, the EU and Japan, all important donors to Nepal, have their own sanctions against North Korea and they don’t look kindly on countries that are in violation of their sanctions. But Nepal’s communist government seems to be in no mood to enact any sanction against North Koreans. In fact, it is allowing more and more North Korean businesses to operate in this country. PM KP Oli is said to have a soft spot for North Korea. Another senior leader Madhav Nepal has long been a North champion. Home Minister Ram Bahadur Tha­pa has even assured North Korean businessmen in Nepal that he will personally bail them out should they run into any trouble.

We have no problem with foreign nationals running legal businesses here. But most North Koreans work­ing in Nepal are doing so illegally. And no one really knows what they do while they are in Nepal. For Nepal to be considered a responsible mem­ber of the global community the gov­ernment should be mindful of the country’s international obligations.

North Koreans freely investing in Nepal by defying UN sanctions

Foreign ministry officials believe Nepali leaders should not bat for North Korea, lest it annoys the UN and other powerful countries with which Nepal has strong economic ties. Yet even UN officials in Kathmandu are lukewarm about imposing sanctions on North Koreans

North Korean entrepreneurs have been steadily expand­ing their investment in Nepal, even though the UN has repeatedly asked Nepal to enforce its sanctions against North Korea. So have the US, Japan, South Korea and a number of European countries.In adherence with the sanc­tions, all UN member countries are required to, as reported in Global News, “freeze the assets of people identified as being engaged in or providing support for North Korea’s nuclear, weapons of mass destruc­tion and missile programs.” Most North Koreans working in Nepal are on business (not work) visa, and as the North Korean Embassy in Kathmandu directly facilitates their stay and work here, the fear is that their investments in Nepal could end up in the hands of the rough North Korean regime. The regime is notorious for operating illegal busi­nesses in other countries to finance its expenses.

UN member countries are also required to “not allow these people to travel into their territories, unless they’re citizens there,” “freeze the assets of and ban anyone deter­mined to be working for these iden­tified people,” and “if the identi­fied people are from North Korea, deport them back there.”

Multiple sources, at both Home and Foreign ministries, reveal that Prime Minister KP Oli, Home Minis­ter Ram Bahadur Thapa and Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali all assure high-level foreign diplomats that they are serious about enforcing the UN sanctions.

But the Nepal government has taken no step towards that end. In fact, it appears to be doing the opposite. Until recently, the North Koreans were running just one restaurant in Durbar Marg in Kath­mandu, but now they have obtained permission for three more. They are also running a hospital (N-Koryo Hospital) in Tanahun and two IT companies (HimalChilbo Technical Solution Pvt Ltd in Lalitpur, and Yong-Bong-Chand IT Company in Kathmandu)—all under the direct patronage of the North Korean Embassy in Kathmandu. Whenever North Korean businesses encoun­ter problems at Nepali government offices, embassy officials pay them a visit straight away.

Nepali communist leaders argue the investments of North Koreans should not be viewed through a western lens

Arirang, what, how?

The North Koreans are in the final stages of the preparations for open­ing a couple of new restaurants in Lazimpat and Thamel. They have also bought another restaurant, Botonggang Restaurant and Bar, in Kamaladi (pictured alongside) from some Chinese nationals. As many as 14 North Koreans, all here on busi­ness visas, are currently employed there. None has a work permit. Korea Pyongyang Arirang in Durbar Marg is another restaurant where North Koreans are working without a permit. Under Nepali laws, foreign investors are allowed to stay here on business visas, but their employees have to have work permits. Only after the recommendation of the Department of Industry does the Department of Immigration issue visas for foreign workers.

Most workers employed by the two IT companies mentioned above are in Nepal on business or tourist visas. The visas for three of their employeesexpired on Jan­uary 2 but they continue to live and work in Nepal illegally. Exactly what kind of work these illegal workers and the IT companies that employ them are doing here remains opaque to government (including security) officials.

Deep political nexus

Nepal and North Korea estab­lished diplomatic relations on 15 May 1974, and leaders of the two countries have maintained close ties. Many Nepali politicians, includ­ing former prime ministers Tanka Prasad Acharya, Kirti Nidhi Bista and Madhav Kumar Nepal, have visited North Korea.

Madhav Nepal remains an influen­tial leader in the ruling Nepal Com­munist Party (NCP). Other left-lean­ing leaders from various parties—Narayan Man Bijukchhe Rohit, CP Mainali, Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara, among others—as well as some businesspeople have also vis­ited North Korea. Prime Minister KP Oli, Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa, Industry, Commerce and Supplies Minister Matrika Yadav and former prime minister and NCP Co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal also have strong ties with North Korea. Most importantly, PM Oli is said to be positive toward North Korean investment in Nepal.

Not just Oli, most communist leaders of Nepal are not in favor of enforcing the UN sanctions against North Korea. The primary reason behind this is ideological. The North Koreans are confident that their investment remains safe under Nepal’s communist govern­ment. Home Minister Thapa has had meetings with officials from the North Korean Embassy in Kathman­du on many occasions. According to ministry sources, Thapa has told North Korean officials to come to him immediately should they run into any problem, and has assured them that the government would protect their investments in Nepal. Sources also claim that the embassy officials visit the ministries of Home or Industry whenever they face even minor problems.

Having been assured of support from the two ministries, the North Koreans have increased their invest­ment in Nepal. Nepali communist leaders argue that the presence and investments of North Kore­ans in Nepal should not be looked through a western lens. Says one such high-ranking NCP leader, “The two countries have diplomatic rela­tions. We should view North Kore­an investment with our own lens. Viewing it through a foreign lens can upset diplomatic balance.”

MoFA consensus

Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) refuse to comment on record on wheth­er Nepal should enforce the UN sanctions against North Korea. In informal conversations, how­ever, they express their support for the sanctions. They argue that top Nepali leaders should not bat for North Korea, lest it annoys the UN and other power­ful countries with which Nepal has strong economic partnerships. In the wake of two failed summits between the US and North Korea, MoFA officials are not optimistic about any easing of sanctions. They say the decision on whether to enforce the UN sanctions cannot be taken at a bureaucratic level. “A political decision is required. The sanctions will be enforced imme­diately if the government makes a formal decision,” says a high-level MoFA official.

In the third week of March, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo had written a letter to PM Oli con­gratulating him on completing his first year in office. But it was not only a congratulatory message. The letter clearly mentions Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali’s assur­ances on enforcing the UN sanc­tions against North Korea during his recent US visit. Pompeo had inquired about North Korean pres­ence and investments in Nepal in his meeting with Gyawali. Randy Berry, the US Ambassador to Nepal, has also repeatedly raised this topic with PM Oli and NCP Co-chair Dahal. So have senior diplomats from other countries. But the Nepal govern­ment remains indifferent.

Strangely, besides expressing occasional concern with the Nepal government, those in the know say even UN officials in Kathmandu are lukewarm about imposing the sanc­tions on North Koreans working illegally in Nepal. While writing this story, multiple attempts to get the UN version of what it was doing to put pressure on the government were rebuffed.

The Chinese government has invited President Bidya Devi Bhandari to the second Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) conference slated to start on April 25. On behalf of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Chinese Ambassador in Kathmandu Hou Yanqi formally extended President Bhandari the invitation to the conference. Barring last-minute changes, Bhandari will leave for China on April 24, where she will lead a contingent of high-level Nepali delegates, and return home on April 28. China has invited many heads of government or state to the conference.

Despite being a BRI member country, Nepal has not warmed up to projects under the trillion-dollar Chinese initiative. Analysts reckon Nepal hasn’t shown sufficient interest in the projects. By inviting President Bhandari, China has conveyed that Nepal is a BRI priority country. But except in rhetoric, top Nepali leaders, including Prime Minister KP Oli, haven’t reciprocated the Chinese gesture.

President Bhandari’s visit is expected to improve Nepal’s BRI prospects

“However, the fact that our head-of-state is attending the conference sends a meaningful signal. It strongly suggests that the BRI is a top priority for Nepal,” says Khadga KC, a foreign policy expert. Analysts like KC believe that Bhandari’s visit will inject fresh momentum into Nepal’s participation in the BRI. Some western countries have been apprehensive though. Dismissing such apprehension, KC says, “The BRI is not a strategic alliance. We shouldn’t do anything that hurts our national interest. But President Bhandari’s participation in the conference is a positive thing.”

High-level sources say President Bhandari is scheduled to address the conference. She will also meet Chinese President Xi Jinping one-on-one and extend him a formal invitation to visit Nepal.  Nepal joined the BRI in May 2017 when Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ was the prime minister. Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi and the then Chinese Ambassador Yu Hong had signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the framework agreement on the BRI in an event held in Kathmandu that was attended by then Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara and then Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat. Immediately following the signing of the deal, Mahara had led a Nepali delegation at the first BRI conference in Beijing.
 

Although there has been no official word on the Chinese invitation to President Bhandari, foreign ministry officials have unofficially verified it, going so far as to reveal that the invitation letter is signed by Chinese President Xi Jinping himself. The Office of the President, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu are already making preparations for Bhandari’s visit. Sources have also revealed that President Bhandari has already conferred with Prime Minister Oli about her participation in the BRI conference.

The BRI is an ambitious pet project of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who had presided over the first BRI conference held in Beijing on May 14-15, 2017. Attending it were top leaders from around 100 countries, including Nepal.  

Summary: The threat of foreigners stealing jobs and endangering a way of life is now nearly universal, influencing political debates around the world. Donald Trump wants to build a wall on the border with Mex­ico to stop “drug dealers, criminals, rapists” from entering the country he wants to make great again. The Brexiteers in the UK want to take their country back to the days of splendid isolation, when immigrants were few and the country was sup­posedly free to trade, on its own terms, with the rest of the world.

Even the traditional welfare states of Scandinavia are struggling to con­tain anti-immigrant populist waves. It isn’t surprising then that the specters of a big neighbor flooding the country with its citizens and evangelizing foreigners trying to change the country’s traditional Hindu character haunt Nepal. Or that the government takes these concerns seriously, by for instance proposing ‘pro-Nepal’ revisions to the Indo-Nepal treaties, or by apprehending and deporting foreign nationals into changing religion, which both the new constitution as well as the new criminal code proscribe. If we set aside issues with India for a while, in the first four months of the current fiscal, 153 third-country folks have already been deported for engaging in crim­inal activities ranging from trying to change religion, overstaying visa, drug dealing to even prostitution.

 Many are bothered by foreigners trying to change Nepal’s Hindu character

The full story

Getting tough on foreigners into illegal activities

Home Ministry sources say monitoring of foreign nationals on non-tourist visas has been considerably increased. Those suspected of trying to lure people into changing their religion have been deported 

Even as it stands accused of ‘pro­moting Christianity’ by jointly hosting an upcoming interna­tional conference in Kathmandu in collaboration with an organiza­tion with supposed Christian roots, the communist government is also increasingly taking a tough stand on foreign nationals who are engaged in various criminal activities, includ­ing evangelizing. It has of late been particularly hard on those practicing religious conversions. Home Ministry sources say the monitoring of foreign nation­als who are in Nepal on non-tour­ist visas has been considerably increased. Recently, foreigners sus­pected of trying to lure people into changing their religion have been apprehended and deported.

Article 26 of the new constitution proscribes any activity aimed at “converting another person from one religion to another” or one that “jeopardizes other’s religion.” According to the new Criminal Code, no one can try to change the religion of another person, or even abet in any such activity. Likewise, trying to change a community’s way of life through various inducements, or even without such inducements, constitutes a crime. If found guilty, such persons can be fined up to Rs 50,000 and be jailed for up to five years.

Whither monitoring?

The government had not been all that keen on implementing the ‘For­eign Nationals Monitoring Directive’ issued by the Home Ministry back in June. Some reckon the directive was the product of Prime Minister KP Oli’s foreign policy vision, whereby he feels that Nepal’s interest lies in minimizing the activities of western­ers, something which both India and China strongly support.

But after some foreign nationals were found to be involved in evan­gelizing, the government decided to more stringently apply the directive and to unearth cases of the involve­ment of foreigners in other crimes as well.

In the past week, two Japanese women, Mari Iruka and Yasuko Oba, were arrested from Padampur of Butwal, for supposedly trying to convert people to Christianity by offering ‘various inducements’. They were later deported. Earlier, the locals had taken the Japanese women into their control as they felt that the two were spreading false information about Hinduism. The two women, who spoke fluent Nepali, were on tourist visa.

Later in the week, Australia’s Katiya Graham was arrested from Bardiya’s Gularia and later deported on the same charge. Graham, who was on student visa while studying at Pashupati Campus in Chabahil, was arrested during a door-to-door evangelizing campaign in Gularia. All three have been barred from entering Nepal for five years.

Before that, back in July, Home Ministry had deported a Philip­pine-Indonesian couple, De Vera Richard and Rita Gonga, who togeth­er ran a restaurant at Pulchowk, on the same charge. The couple used to preach as pastors at the nearby Ever Nation Church. The ministry argued that they were not supposed to act as pastors while on business visa.

Beyond conversions

Moreover, Home Ministry has increased its monitoring of foreign nationals in Nepal who are on busi­ness and student visas. Interesting­ly, the government is also keeping a close eye on the movement of Russian and Uzbek women into Nepal, on the suspicion that at least some of them are involved in criminal activities, including prostitution. When APEX asked a 35-year-old Uzbek woman, who was recently deported for overstaying her visa, the reason for her Nepal visit, she said she had come here to “smoke, drink and relax.”

According to Immigration Department chief Ishwar Raj Pau­del, all the foreigners coming to Nepal except on tourist visa are being closely watched. “We have been getting information that the tourists on non-tourist visas are involved in evangelical as well as other criminal activities,” he told APEX. “But those who come to Nepal purely for tourism have abso­lutely nothing to fear.”

Prime Minister KP Oli and Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa have sounded tough on evangelical activ­ities right from the start. Thapa has said that all those involved in forced conversions are ‘criminals’ and that they will be dealt with harshly.

 Our law enforcement agencies certainly need to be better prepared to deal with illegal activities of foreigners

 Article 26 of the constitution proscribes any activity to “convert a person from one religion to another”

In the first four months of the current fiscal year, the government has already deported 153 people. In the fiscal year before that, 594 were deported, most of them for over­staying their visa, and some even for their involvement in drug trade and in evangelical activities.

Notwithstanding the recent spate of arrests and deportations, mon­itoring of foreign nationals is still weak, which in turn has added to the country’s security challenges. According to ministry officials for­eigners from third countries are using the open Nepal-India border to cross over to Nepal without visa. Neither the Immigration Depart­ment nor Nepal Police are aware of the reason for their visit.

Nearly four years ago, a Chinese hydropower company had brought in 54 North Korean nationals to dig a tunnel for a project. (They were later deported under UN pressure.) Even today, North Koreans are ille­gally running a hospital in Damauli of Tanahu and operating restaurants in Kathmandu. Even though the UN has repeatedly written to Nepal to obey its sanction regime against North Korea, Nepal has not paid much heed.

The police have of late found that criminals from Bangladesh, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey are using fake passports to come to Nepal. Many of them overstay their visa. Yet, again, for the large part the police are unaware of what they do during their Nepal stay. Knowl­edgeable sources say even today many Chinese projects in Nepal are employing Chinese laborers illegally.

Our law enforcement agencies certainly need to be better pre­pared to deal with illegal activities of foreigners. But the onus is also on Nepal government to show that it will be equally harsh on all foreign­ers who are into illegal acts and not target them selectively.