Bhutanese Refugees
Living in Refugee Camps in Nepal
Bhutan
• Bhutan is a small, remote and very poor
country between two powerful neighbours
– China and India.
• Bhutan is a conservative Buddhist
kingdom high in the Himalayas.
• In 1990 the Bhutanese government
(monarchy) implemented harsh rules to
enforce a depopulation and ethnic
cleansing policy.
• Their aim - one people – one language –
one religion – one culture.
• This lead to one of the largest ethnic
expulsions in the world.
• The Bhutanese had to provide proof of 20
years continuous residence in Bhutan and
knowledge of the language and culture of
Northern Bhutanese communities.
• As the Southern Bhutanese were mostly of
Nepalese origin and Hindu, they did not fit
the criteria.
• Around 103 000 Nepali-speaking
Bhutanese were forced to flee their homes
(many in appalling situations), and ended
up in 7 refugee camps in Nepal.
• There are now over 107 000 people in
these camps, living in 17 730 shelters.
• Bhutan will not let the people return
because they are not of pure Bhutanese
ethnic origin.
• Nepal will not let them out of the refugee
camps and into the country because they
are Bhutanese.
• In close collaboration with the UNHCR,
Lutheran World Federation Nepal has been
providing basic services like care and
maintenance of shelters, service-centres,
water supply and sanitation and providing
community services to the refugees since
the beginning of the crisis.
• After many meetings, the governments of
Nepal and Bhutan cannot come to a
decision about what to do with the
refugees, and so they remain in limbo –
their lives on hold.
• The refugees want to return to their
homes in Bhutan, but after 16 years, not
one single refugee has been allowed to
return home.
• Lutheran World Federation continue to
advocate for the rights of the refugees.
• This refugee crisis is one of the largest
and longest-standing in the world.
• There is tension, stress and strain in the
camps, as people grow more frustrated
with their situation, and loose hope in the
future for themselves and their children.
• Lutheran World Federation are doing what
they can in some very difficult
circumstances – there are many problems
in Nepal (a very poor and politically
unstable country) that they need to
overcome to help the people in the
refugee camps.
Will you help bring hope to
the Bhutanese people living
in the refugee camps in
Nepal?
• Learn about the situation. Be an advocate
for change.
• Pray for a solution. Pray for the people.
• Raise some money for books or desks and
benches for the schools in the refugee
camps.
The poor and the homeless
won’t always be forgotten
and without hope.
Psalm 9:18