SAHR’s Concerns on Bhutanese Refugees in Nepal

South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR), a regional network of human rights defenders, has been monitoring the state of the Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origin living in Nepal. A research was conducted early this year and SAHR believes that these Bhutanese refugees are facing a grave humanitarian issue which needs the immediate attention of the Government of Nepal as well as of the neighbouring countries and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) before it reaches a critical point. SAHR further believes that it is critically important for the Government of Nepal to positively address this as their own issue.

SAHR has learnt that at present 6577 Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origin live in Beldangi in the Jhapa district and Pathari Sanischare in Morang district in Eastern Nepal. About 1000 of these refugees are said to be disabled, infirm or elderly. When speaking to them SAHR learnt that most of these refugees are living in these camps with the firm intention of returning to Bhutan.

SAHR commends the Government of Nepal for allowing these Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origin to live in the country since the 1990s basically on humanitarian grounds with the assistance of the international organisations. However, SAHR is concerned that these refugees have not been entitled to any rights or benefits as refugees. In addition, the UNHCR’s engagement with the Bhutanese refugees to provide healthcare and the World Food Programme’s provision of food had halted in 2016. Subsequently, these refugees have been deprived basic entitlements such as education, healthcare and food and housing in order to achieve a dignified standard of living in Nepal. SAHR is concerned that the dwellings they live in the camps are the same temporary makeshift constructions that were provided to them in the 1990s. At present, they are left to fend for themselves resorting to cautiously indulge in menial work with meagre insufficient earning risking government scrutiny leading to punitive actions. Currently, SAHR learns that the Government of Nepal only provides NPR 15 per student at the Early Childhood Development Centre and that there are only 150 students in the camp who benefits from this programme.

There have been 113,567 Bhutanese refugees settled in the United States of America, Australia and in Europe under the third country resettlement programme which was halted in December 2016. In 2017 the relatives in Nepal were stopped from visiting their family members who have resettled elsewhere. Further, the fake Bhutanese refugee resettlement scam involving prominent government officials and politicians, disclosed recently, has temporarily stopped the resettlement process.[i] Due to this scam the government has halted the issuance of important documents as well that are essential to live in Nepal, to the actual refugees.

Fourteen rounds of meetings of the Ministerial Joint Committee (MJC) from 1993 to 2003 between Nepal and Bhutan ended up in the catergorisation of refugees which led some refugees as stateless. This has further complicated the resolving of this issue of refugees.[ii]

Further, the Report of the United States’ Department of State in 2016 indicated 57 detainees in Bhutan under the National Security Act.[iii] SAHR has learnt that these are Bhutanese citizens who came out on the streets in the 90s to protest against the Bhutan government’s discriminatory policies, while others are refugees who were arrested later when they returned to Bhutan either to meet their relatives, sell their land or any such reasons. The prisoners have been forced to spend a maximum of 43 years of life imprisonment without any felony but for simply belonging to the Nepali-speaking demographic, leaving them bereft of the life they once had and the life they could otherwise have.[iv] Some who have returned completing the sentences are physically unwell due to torture and inhumane prison conditions in Bhutan and lead isolated lives as their family members have left the country to live elsewhere. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) which had been allowed biannual prison visits and visits to the southern districts of Bhutan since 1994 had been prevented from doing so following the COVID pandemic.

Therefore, SAHR calls on the Government of Nepal to urgently take measures to address the issues of the Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origin which has already prolonged for over 40 years, mainly taking into consideration the dire situation these people are living in the country. We provide the following recommendations to the:

Government of Nepal:
1. Ensure proper care and security for Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origin remaining in Nepal and seek support from international agencies to provide humanitarian aid.
2. Provide required ID cards, travel papers and other documents to ease the life of the refugees, whose quality of life has been severely affected by the lack of necessary government documents.
3. Allow refugees in Nepal the right to work legally so that they can afford a better life.
4. Explore the possibility of granting citizenship rights to the refugee children born in the camps in Nepal.
5. Set up a permanent task force within Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs which is responsible for studying, and understanding the issues of Bhutanese refugees and prisoners and then initiate negotiations afresh with the Bhutanese government. We believe the responsibility of holding bilateral talks between Bhutan and Nepal regarding this issue, now falls on the shoulders of Nepal.
6. Strive to ensure the Right of Return of Bhutanese refugees who live in Nepal or have moved to a third countries via Nepal.
7. Investigate the ‘fake refugee scam’ that has been exposed in Nepal and hold accountable those involved in it.
8. Ensure that the refugee rights are not impacted in any way, especially providing care and security to Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origin, due to the reluctance of bureaucracy to be involved following the ‘fake refugee scam’.
9. Conduct urgent discussions with the relevant governmental as well as non-governmental partners to address the issue of Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origin imprisoned as political prisoners in Bhutan.
10. As there are many refugees living in Nepal, in addition to the Bhutanese refugees, SAHR advocates for the Government of Nepal to sign and ratify the Refugee Convention of 1951 and its 1967 Optional Protocol.

King and the Government of Bhutan:
1. Publicise full details of the Bhutanese prisoners of Nepali origin held in Bhutanese prisons, the details of the charges, the time spent behind bars
2. Release all Bhutanese prisoners of Nepali origin from governmental custody from lengthy detention
3. Allow ICRC to visit the prisons to monitor the welfare of the Bhutanese prisoners of Nepali origin until they are released
4. Recognise and ensure the Right of Return for Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origin, recognizing them as citizens of Bhutan who have contributed immensely for the development but have been ousted by governmental policy
5. Compensate those who have lost life, limb and property in the implementation of the policy of ‘driglam namzha'[v] since its implementation in Bhutan
6. Formulate a political solution within Bhutan to resolve the issues of Bhutanese citizens of Nepali origin so that they are not subjected to discrimination.

Government of India:
1. Proactively work with the Government of Nepal to initiate fresh negotiations to resolve the issue of Bhutanese nationals of Nepali origin
2. Work proactively with the Government of Nepal to ensure care and security of these refugees who remain within Nepal.
3. Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origin who migrated to India from Bhutan in 1988 should be recognised as refugees and made eligible for UNHCR assistance and allowed work permits within India

International Organisations and International Humanitarian Agencies:
1. Through the Government of Nepal, resume support for Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origin to acquire better and safe living conditions in Nepal.
2. Continue to give visibility to the critical issue of the Bhutanese refugees in order pressurise the relevant governments to take immediate proactive actions to deliver justice to the Bhutanese refugees of Nepali origins; to enable them to return to Bhutan if they consent and to release the Bhutanese political prisoners from lengthy detention in Bhutanese prisons.
3. Resume the monitoring of condition of political prisoners with the support of the Government of Bhutan.

SAHR calls upon these relevant stakeholders to fulfill these recommendations in order to grant the rights and entitlements of these refugees to attain a dignified standard of living.

On behalf of the members of South Asians for Human Rights

Sushil Pyakurel
Bureau Member

Dilrukshi Handunnetti
Bureau Member

[i] The Kathmandu Post. Supreme Court refuses to release former minister and secretary accused in Bhutanese refugee scam, 24 April 2024, https://kathmandupost.com/national/2024/04/25/supreme-court-rejects-plea-for-release-of-fake-refugee-scam-arrestees
[ii] Formal updates on the status of this group of refugees are largely unavailable owing to humanitarian support and political interest being on the wane.
[iii] US State Department Report on Bhutan (2016). https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Bhutan-1.pdf; South China Morning Post. Ethnic Nepali Political prisoners in Bhutan await justice after decades behind bars, 19 April 2024, https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3259459/ethnic-nepali-political-prisoners-bhutan-await-justice-after-decades-behind-bars
[iv] The DMN News. Left to rot by Bhutan: A tale of state led persecution against Nepali speaking Bhutanese, 20 July 2024, https://thedmnnews.com/left-to-rot-by-bhutan-a-tale-of-state-led-persecution-against-nepali-speaking-bhutanese
[v] It means traditional etiquette of the people of Bhutan or Drukpa. In the Monarchical Democracy of Bhutan the implementation of ‘driglam namzha’ policy dissolves the ethnicities in the country which resulted in the Bhutanese people of Nepali origin were sent away through adhering to the policy.