Bombs in Bhutan stir refugee crisis

By Mohan Balaji
Asia Times Online
Jan 23, 2008

The much-heralded democratization process, as well as Bhutan’s increasingly complex role as a “buffer state” between China and India, have overshadowed the country’s refugee issue. This week’s blasts, however, may have shifted the focus back to the decades-old situation that has been condemned by rights groups and drawn the scrutiny of the United States and the United Nations.

CHENNAI - The orchestrated bomb blasts that detonated on Monday in the capital of Thimphu and three other locations across Bhutan are a powerful reminder of the simmering refugee problem that has long plagued the ruling government and tarnished the reputation of the tiny Himalayan kingdom often referred to as Shangri-La.

According to Bhutanese police, the explosions were suspected to be linked to one of three militant organizations based in Nepal - the Bhutan Tiger Force, the Bhutan Maoists Party and the Communist Party of Bhutan.

The explosives did little physical damage: one woman suffered an injured leg, windows were shattered and some shopkeepers and residents unnerved. But as Bhutan looks ahead to a second round of the country’s first democratic elections on March 24, the impact of the militant-linked attacks may be much more severe.

International media have recently lauded Bhutan for becoming the world’s newest democracy, and piled high praise on its former ruler, King Jigme Singye Wangchuk, who voluntarily abdicated after 34 years as monarch to usher in an era of multiparty democracy.

The much-heralded democratization process, as well as Bhutan’s increasingly complex role as a “buffer state” between China and India, have overshadowed the country’s refugee issue. This week’s blasts, however, may have shifted the focus back to the decades-old situation that has been condemned by rights groups and drawn the scrutiny of the United States, United Nations and, recently, one vocal Indian politician.

A team of Indian parliamentarians, on its way to visit Bhutanese refugees in eastern Nepal, was barred from entering Bhutan by border security on January 19. The team, led by Debrata Biswas, general secretary of the Forward Bloc Party, was en route to Jhapa district where the joint Indo-Bhutan Solidarity team was scheduled to address a gathering at Beldangi and hold talks with refugee leaders.

“Bhutan cannot be called a democratic nation even after the March 24, 2008, elections unless it allows Bhutanese refugees to participate in the elections. We will pressure the Indian government in all sorts [of ways] to resolve the refugee situation without the intervention of countries like the US,” Biswas told Asia Times Online.

Bhutan is one of the highest per capita refugee generators in the world. It has been estimated that some 170,000 Bhutanese refugees, most of Nepalese origin, live in seven refugee camps in eastern Nepal managed by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Roughly another 25,000 Bhutanese refugees live in India.

Nepal, which has hosted these groups since 1990, initially sought to repatriate the Bhutanese refugees, but relented to pressure from the UNHCR and the US. Nevertheless, pro-repatriation groups have been advocating the Bhutanese government take the refugees back and there is fear within Nepal about the underground militant groups which have been started by the Bhutanese refugees. Backlash from such organizations before Nepal’s elections scheduled for April could become a major nuisance for Kathmandu.

Ethnic divisions
Bhutanese refugees are called Lhotshampas (people of Nepali origin) who immigrated to the southern regions of Bhutan in search of farmland and economic prosperity in the early 1800s. Bhutan’s population is dominated by the Drukpas (Buddhist Bhutanese of Tibetan origin).

Ethnic problems between the Lhotshampas and Drukpas escalated when the policy of “Bhutanization” was initiated by former king Jigme Singye Wangchuck in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Two citizenship acts, passed in 1977 and 1985, tightened the requirements for obtaining citizenship for the Lhotshampas. These, and a census in 1985, led to a huge surge of so-called “voluntary” migration. The 1985 legislation also mandated the Lhotshampas adopt Drukpa culture: language, religion and a national dress code known as Drukpa bakkhoo.

Lhotshampas who could not prove they were residents of the country before December 31, 1958, were forced to leave. Citizenship was only granted if both parents were also registered citizens. The 1988 census revealed that Bhutan’s population was 48% Buddhist and 45% Nepali.

After the introduction of the king’s “one nation, one people” campaign the Nepali language was banned from school curriculums, and southerners were required to learn Dzongkha, a Tibetan dialect spoken only by northerners. Special permission was required for admission to schools and to sell cash crops. There were protests in southern Bhutan against the reforms, leading to a large majority of Lhotshampas being classified as illegal immigrants and a deportation program was instituted - the so called “voluntary” migration.

FULL ARTICLE