The first group of Bhutanese refugees arrived in Austin, TX in November 2008- father, mother, and 16 month old baby. They are awaiting the arrival of the rest of their family, which would make them a clan of 10.
Weeks later a single girl came, age 19. When applying for resettlement abroad, families make a choice- wait until everyone has been approved (which can be months) or come as soon as their paperwork is ready. Last month, her elder brother arrived.
The whole resettlement issue was of huge controversy in the camps, with occasional violence against those who demanded that they be repatriated to their lands in Bhutan, from where they were evicted 18 years ago.
Who are Bhutanese refugees, actually? Basically, they are Nepalis who have lived in Bhutan for generations.
“Expelled as part of an exercise in cultural preservation, the refugees are a Nepali-origin ethnic group known as the Lhotshampa, most of whom migrated to the southern lowlands of Bhutan in the late 19th century on the invitation of the Bhutanese government, which needed them to clear the malaria-infested jungles for agricultural purposes,” explains wwww.bhutaneserefugees.com, a website that is a collaboration between PhotoVoice and the Bhutanese Refugee Support Group.
As part of its “One Nation, One People” policy, the Bhutanese government forced them to leave. Many wound up in refugees camps set up by UNHCR in eastern Nepal, having to build homes and facilities for themselves. As is the case with the Austin families, many have spent most of their lives in the camps.
Now they are starting new lives. As of September 2008, nearly 5,000 refugees have left for the US, 129 for New Zealand, 131 for Australia, 22 for the Netherlands, 19 for Norway, 16 for Canada and 13 for Denmark. More than 50,000 refugees have expressed interest in resettlement, a figure which is just under half of the total 107,000 refugees who live in seven camps in eastern Nepal.
Click here to view the pictures of the Bhutanese Resettlement camp at Autin,TX
I will be posting much more on their resettlement and life here. I am also working on a documentary about the subject
