The Bhutanese Leading the way.
One of the pledges of the DNT government that attracted a lot of attention was its pledge to amend immigration rules to allow the hire of foreign domestic maids.
Apart from this, the National Assembly in its last session passed a resolution to open up addition entry points in southern Bhutan.
Both the above issues are linked to the internal security of the country and so are being looked at by the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs (MoHCA).
The Home Minister Lyonpo Dasho Sherub Gyeltshen said that the ministry is studying both the issues and he would not commit to it happening or not happening.
The Home Minister said that the country’s security is not a bottom up issue but a top down issue.
He said once a National Security Act is passed then national security is a top down issue.
Lyonpo said that this is the same across the world and nowhere in the world is a nation’s security decided based on the opinions and views of people.
The Minister said that the domestic help issue came up given that many fathers and mothers work and they are not able to get maids. He said that some even end up keeping illegal maids.
The minister said that what is most important is that Bhutan has 699 km of open borders in the south and it is possible for people to come and go without notice. He said that there are only so many checkpoints and that even if all Bhutanese stood at the borders they would not be able to stop people from coming in.
He said since it has to do with border issues then Indo-Bhutan relations also come into play and he aid it is very important to preserve this friendship. Lyonpo said that he cannot say if the maids pledge will happen or not happen but it is being looked at by the ministry and will also depend on the security issues.
On the issue of the NA’s resolution to open additional border points in the south the minister said that the issue of opening border points in the south is under discussion and for this too he cannot commit that it will happen or not.
The minister said that internal security is also not just about borders but also about internal harmony and unity and he said the aim of this government is to promote political harmony within the country.
He gave his own example saying that he had taken two Opposition MPs with him for a program to Mongar.
He said that internal security is also about people having their freedoms and rights and having enough to eat and live by.
