Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

11-2013

Abstract

Who the Bhutanese Refugees Are [1]

  • Mid-19th Century: Nepalese farmers recruited to work farmlands of Southern Bhutan (called Lhotshampa, or “southerners”)
  • Lhotshampa retained Nepali and Hindu customs, but lived in peace with the Drukpa (Buddhist elite) majority for many years
  • 1989: “One Nation, One People” policy of ethnic cleansing: Drukpa culture imposed on all Bhutanese
  • Torture, sexual assault and murder forced over 130,000 Lhotshampa to flee Bhutan
  • These refugees spent decades of their lives in camps in Nepal (many still remain there)
  • Over 68,000 have resettled to the USA, many coming to South Philadelphia [2]

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