Bhutanese refugees finally resettle
17 March 2008, 12:28PM
After spending 15 years in limbo, 17 Bhutanese families are the first Bhutanese refugees to leave Nepal. More than 100 000 Nepali-speaking Bhutanese refugees have been in refugee camps in Nepal since the early 1990’s. Most of them are Hindu and were forced out of Bhutan.
The 17 Bhutanese families first flew on Sunday 9th March from eastern Nepal to Kathmandu. They flew then to the United States and to New Zealand where they are going to be resettled.
In the 1990’s, measures to stress the majority Buddhist culture had threatened the ethnic Nepalese community in the South of Bhutan. Violence erupted and tens of thousands of Nepali speakers fled to refugee camps in Nepal. Until now, the Bhutanese refugees were kept in UN supervised camps without any resolution in sight.
A few months ago, the United States and a number of other countries included Australia agreed to take tens of thousands of the refugees. This does not mean that each case of the Bhutanese refugees has been solved.
While some Bhutanese refugees are leaving Nepal, the tension is increasing in the camps. Those left behind are experiencing violence and intimidation.
Some refugee leaders claim that the only true solution is complete repatriation to Bhutan and those who want to be resettled in another western country have been harassed and threatened.
Previously, the situation in the camps has been very disquieting. Earlier this month a fire destroyed the homes of 8000 refugees at Goldhap Camp in eastern Nepal.
The threat of disease is also very high in the camps. Recent heavy rain and cold weather caused problems, especially for pregnant women and children who are most vulnerable to diseases.
Read the following articles:
Bhutanese refugees start a new life, BBC News, 9 March 2008.
Violence haunts Bhutan’s refugees, BBC News, 22 January 2008.
Nepal: Fire affected Bhutanese refugees face hardship, Refworld, 5 March 2008.
Country Profile: Bhutan, BBC News, 6 February 2008.
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