Bhutanese (in Nepal)
Between 1990 and 1993, around 100,000 Bhutanese were forced to leave Bhutan and fled to Nepal. With a political solution to their exile out of sight, UNHCR launched a resettlement programme in 2007, and more than 50,000 refugees have since been able to start a new life elsewhere. Despite not being a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol, Nepal still hosts more than 75,000 Bhutanese refugees.
The Nepalese-speaking Lhotshampas, who constitute the vast majority of those displaced, had mostly migrated from Nepal to southern Bhutan between 1890 and 1920. By 1990 they constituted between one-third and one-half of Bhutan's 650,000 inhabitants. Bhutan had naturalized the southern population in the 1950s, and the South became economically and agriculturally increasingly important. In the 1980s, the Lhotshampas' economic and political success came to be perceived as a threat to the established political powers in Bhutan, and new citizenship legislation enabled the government to declare those lacking specific documents to be non-nationals. When Northern cultural and linguistic traditions were imposed on all Bhutanese, public demonstrations against government policies broke out in southern districts. Thousands of Lhotshampas were imprisoned, many faced torture and abuse, and hundreds of thousands were put under pressure to sign voluntary migration forms and to leave the country. In successive national censuses, more and more people had their Bhutanese citizenship revoked, and around 100,000 people fled to Nepal.
Up until today, UNHCR continues to search for durable solutions for 75,000 Bhutanese refugees remaining in Nepal. More than 56,000 refugees currently in Nepalese camps have expressed an interest in resettlement already, and acceptance rates of UNHCR referrals have been exceptionally high.
Online Resources
- Ahura Bhutan (1994) 'Bhutanese refugees: victims of arbitrary deprivation of right to nationality and political repression. A report'.
- Amnesty International (2002), 'Bhutan: ten years later and still waiting to go home: the case of the refugees'.
- 'Bhutanese Refugees: the Story of a Forgotten People'.
- Brown, T. (2001) 'Improving quality and attainment at schools: the case of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal,' in Crisp, J., Talbot., C. and Cipollone, D. (eds.), Learning for a future: refugee education in developing countries, UNHCR.
- Grenier, M. (1999) 'Nowhere to turn: Bhutanese refugees in Nepal', British Refugee Council.
- Hart, J. (2001) 'Buthan: Conflict, Displacement and Children', A discussion document prepared for UNICEF Regional Office South Asia, Refugee Studies Centre.
- IRIN (2011) 'Nepal: Bhutanese refugee numbers nearly halved '
- Kirberger, E. (1995) 'Bhutanese refugees: an unresolved crisis', Columbia University Center for the Study of Human Rights.
- Refugee Studies Centre (1996) 'Bhutanese refugees: a briefing document'.
- Subba, B. (1995) 'The issue of nationality and citizenship: ethnic Nepalese in Bhutan & Bhutanese refugees in Nepal'
Offline Resources
- Banki, S. (2007) 'Resettlement of the Bhutanese from Nepal: The Durable Solution Discourse,' in Adelman, H. (ed.), Protracted Displacement in Asia: No Place to Call Home (Aldershot: Ashgate), pp.29-58.
- Hutt M.J. (1994) 'Bhutan: Perspectives on Conflict and Dissent' (Gartmore, Scotland: Kiscadale Publications, Asia Research Series, No.4).
- Hutt, M. J.(2003) 'Unbecoming Citizens: Culture, Nationhood and the Flight of Refugees from Bhutan' (New Delhi: Oxford University Press).
- Lama, M. (2008) 'Bhutanese refugees in Nepal', in Loescher, G et al (eds), Protracted Refugee Situations: Political, Human Rights and Security Implications (United Nations University Press, Tokyo), pp. 277-302.
- Loescher, G and Milner J. (2005) 'Protracted Refugee Situations: Domestic and International Security Implications', IISS Adelphi Paper 375 (Routledge, Abingdon: Oxon).
- Rose, L. (1977) 'The Politics of Bhutan' (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press).
- Tapan,B. and Rita, M. (1997) 'States, Citizens and Outsiders: The Uprooted Peoples of South Asia' (Kathmandu: South Asia Forum for Human Rights).
- Weiner, M. (1993) 'Rejected and Unwanted Migrants in South Asia' in Weiner, M (ed.) International Migration and Security (Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press).
