Bhutanese refugees

The earliest surviving records of Bhutan's history show that Tibetan influence already existed from the 6th century. King Songtsen Gampo, who ruled Tibet from 627 to 649, was responsible for the construction of Bhutan's oldest surviving Buddhist temples, the Kyichu Lhakhang in Paro and the Jambay Lhakhang in Bumthang. Settlement in Bhutan by people of Tibetan origin happened by this time. The first reports of people of Nepalese origin in Bhutan was during 8th century when Padmashambhawa visited Bhutan with Nepali sculptures, architectural engineers and many workers brought by Bhrikuti Devi, the Queen of Emperor Songs-ten Gampo. Also during the rule of King Ram Saha around 1620 and 1624 when Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal commissioned a few Newar craftsmen from the Kathmandu valley in Nepal to make a silver stupa to contain the ashes of his father Tempa Nima. Since then, people of Nepalese origin started to settle in uninhabited areas of southern Bhutan. The south soon became the country's main supplier of food. Bhutanese of Nepalese origin, Lhotshampas, were flourishing along with the economy of Bhutan. By 1930, according to British colonial officials, much of the south was under cultivation by a population of Nepali origin that amounted to some 60,000 people. Furthermore, Lhotshampa were forbidden from settling north of the subtropical foothills. Bhutan's Citizenship Act of 1958 Toward the end of the reign of the second King Jigme Wangchuck in the 1950s, the numbers of new immigrants had swelled causing tension between the King and the Dorji family in the Bhutan House. Amnesty was given through the Citizenship Act of 1958 for all those who could prove their presence in Bhutan for at least 10 years prior to 1958. On the other hand, the government also banned further immigration in 1958. With the pressures of the developmental activities, this trend remained unchecked or inadequately checked for many years. Immigration check posts and immigration offices were in fact established for the first time only after 1990. Bhutan's Citizenship Act of 1985 By the 1980s, the government had become acutely conscious not just of widespread illegal immigration of people of Nepali origin into Bhutan, but also of the total lack of integration even of long-term immigrants into the political and cultural mainstream of the country. Most Lhotshampa remained culturally Nepalese. For its part, the government had largely ignored illegal settlement, but had encouraged intermarriage with cash payments as a means of assimilation. However, this was met with negligible success as far as actual assimilation. There was also a perception of a Greater Nepal movement emerging from the Nepali-dominated areas in Nepal, Darjeeling, Kalimpong and West Bengal which the Bhutanese feared as Nepali chauvinism. Such policies were criticized at first by human rights groups as well as Bhutan's Nepalese economic migrant community, who perceived the policy to be directed against them. The government, for its part, perceived that free Nepali-language education had encouraged illegal immigration into southern Bhutan. and early twentieth centuries were induced to leave Bhutan after the country carried out its first census in 1988. The government, however, failed to properly train the census officials and this led to some tension among the public. Placement in the census categories which ranged from "Genuine Bhutanese" to "Non-nationals: Migrants and Illegal Settlers" was often arbitrary, and could be arbitrarily changed. In some cases members of the same family have been, and still are, placed in different categories; some admittedly genuine Bhutanese have been forced to flee with family members the government found to be illegal immigrants. Interethnic conflict (1990s) Interethnic conflict generally escalated during the 1990s. In February 1990, antigovernment activists detonated a remote-control bomb on a bridge near Phuntsholing and set fire to a seven-vehicle convoy. Many Lhotshampa claim to have been forcibly evicted by the military, who forced them to sign "Voluntary Migration Form" documents stating they had left willingly. In 1998, Tek Nath Rizal was granted a royal pardon and left for Nepal to form the "People's Forum for Human Rights". ==Refugee camps in Nepal==

During the 1990s several thousand Lhotshampa settled in the refugee camps that were set up by the UNHCR in Nepal. The UNHCR recognized most of the arrivals between 1990 and 1993 on a prima facie basis. By 1996, the camp populations had exploded to 100,000 The government of Nepal and the UNHCR have managed the below seven refugee camps since the arrival of the Bhutanese refugees in the 1990s. Living conditions Camp conditions were initially rife with malnutrition and disease including measles, scurvy, tuberculosis, malaria, cholera, and beriberi, although camp conditions improved markedly between 1995 and 2005. Education was among the best services provided within the camps, generally better than in the surrounding countryside of Nepal. Camps, however, remained significantly overpopulated through 2006. Malnourishment, due to age-based food rationing, violence against women and children, as well as marginalization and radicalization remained serious issues. Since 2009 the population of the camps shrunk as can be seen in the table above. Due to this reduction the Goldhap and Timai camps have been merged with the Beldangi II camp. The offices are preparing to close or merge other camps and predicted to complete the refugee resettlement operation within 10 years. By 2016, only the Beldangi and Sanischare camps remained, with a combined total of 11,762 residents. However, there are around 10,000 refugees left in the camps, who are either not eligible or do not want to be resettled. Remaining are mainly elderly people who have lost their support network – through resettlement – and are affected by increasing rates of depression, substance misuse and suicide. Voluntary return In 2000, after years of discussion, Bhutan and Nepal reached an agreement about the voluntary return of certain Bhutanese refugees living in Nepalese camps. However, points of contention included that some camp inhabitants have never been citizens, or some not even residents, of Bhutan before attaining refugee status. Furthermore, the Bhutanese government regarded many political groups among the Nepalese Lhotshampa community, such as the Bhutan Peoples' Party (BPP) and Bhutan National Democratic Party (BNDP), as terrorist or anti-national groups. Further complicating repatriation, the land and other property formerly held by Lhotshampa refugees have been repopulated and taken over by Ngalop settlers – including government and military members – under government encouragement. As of 2011, over 200 refugees in the Khudunabari refugee camp alone had been certified. However, no Bhutanese refugees had been repatriated. In April 2011, Bhutan and Nepal again opened talks on repatriation, however the UNHCR remains committed to third country resettlement in light of Bhutan's refusal to guarantee full citizenship and other human rights for returnees. The United States Department of State identified leaders within refugee camps intent on repatriation as hampering some resettlement efforts with disinformation and intimidation, despite generally poor prospects for repatriation. Third country resettlement For many years the government of Nepal did not allow resettlement for Bhutanese refugees. This only changed in the second half of the 2000s after lengthy negotiations. Bhutanese refugees were an attractive group for receiving countries as they were perceived as posing much less of a security risk. The UNHCR and different partners that formed the "Core Group on Bhutanese Refugees in Nepal" announced in 2007 to resettle the majority of the 108,000 registered Bhutanese refugees. The U.S. offered to take 60,000 and began receiving them in 2008. Australia, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands and Denmark offered to resettle 10,000 each and by November 2010, more than 40,000 Bhutanese refugees were resettled in various countries. Canada offered to accept additional 6,500 Bhutanese refugees by the end of 2014. Norway has already resettled 200 Bhutanese refugees and Canada has agreed to accept up to 5000 through to 2012. In November 2015 it was announced that 100,000 refugees have been resettled abroad (85 percent of them to the USA) and in February 2017 the number rose to a total of 108,513. By 2019 January around 112,800 have been resettled abroad. These include British Bhutanese people, who have settled in the United Kingdom. According to Raj Khadka resettlement has provided the opportunity of starting a new life to these refugees, but the challenges that they are facing in the labour market are a big hurdle in establishing themselves in the new countries that are quite different from their own. ==Refoulement by the United States==

During the second Trump administration, groups of Nepali-speaking Bhutanese refugees who had been resettled in the United States faced deportation due to prior involvement in largely minor legal issues. Upon deportation, Bhutan briefly received them but quickly expelled the refugees to the Indian border, mirroring actions which led to the original refugee crisis. The deportees later entered Nepal illegally, to resume life in the refugee camps, and some of these individuals were subsequently detained by Nepalese authorities. Refoulement by the United States had effectively made the deportees stateless once again. A habeas corpus petition filed in Nepal's Supreme Court halted immediate deportation from Nepal of the arrivals, however human rights advocates continued to argue that the actions of all governments involved are in violation of international refugee law. Nepal’s Department of Immigration, after a 60-day investigation, has ordered the deportation of the individuals to Bhutan and imposed a fine of 5,000 rupees. Citing a provision that allows deportation of those who have entered the country on a visa, the department has asked them to submit travel documents or passports for the deportation process. However, rights activists have also criticized this decision of Nepal. ==See also==