Bhutan Rejects Lhotshampa Refugees Deported from US
Over two dozen Bhutanese refugees, all from the Lhotshampa ethnic community, are in a serious humanitarian and legal dilemma after being deported from the United States, only to be refused re-entry into Bhutan, their nation of origin. Now, they are stateless and stuck in Nepal's refugee camps.
The CNN reported that the refugees are an ethnic minority in Nepal who were driven out of Bhutan in the 1990s. Following decades in camps, more than 100,000 Lhotshampa were legally resettled in the US, Australia, Canada, and other nations through a UN-sponsored program that started in 2007.
The US shunned deporting individuals to Bhutan for years, primarily due to the Bhutanese government's refusal to accept its former citizens, most of whom had their citizenship taken away from them during the first wave of exodus. The denial makes deported individuals stateless under international law.
Since March 2024, the US has sent over two dozen Lhotshampa refugees to be repatriated to Bhutan. But once they reached Bhutan, they were refused entry and were forced to seek asylum in Nepal, where they are now returned to the refugee camps of their youth.
One deportee described to CNN being flown from the US to New Delhi, and then to Paro, Bhutan. There, he was taken by Bhutanese officials with two others to the Indian border.
The government of Bhutan, the deportee explained, compensated an individual to accompany them to Panitanki, a border town in Nepal opposite India, and provided them with 30,000 Indian rupees (approximately $350) each. They later hired smugglers to ferry them across the Mechi River into Nepal.
These refugees now have a diplomatic stalemate to face. They do not have valid papers for either Bhutan, the US, or Nepal, and their stateless nature means that they can have no legal appeal.
A few of the deportees were arrested by Nepali officials for illegally crossing the border. Four were even instructed to be deported once again by Nepal, with no country to deport them to.
“We are in a dilemma: the US is unlikely to accept them back, and deporting them to Bhutan is not straightforward either,” said Tikaram Dhakal, director of Nepal’s Department of Immigration.
While Bhutan is globally envied for its tranquil reputation and Gross National Happiness ranking, its record on ethnic minorities is another thing entirely. In the late 1970s, Bhutan embarked on a program to "Bhutanise" the nation, implementing cultural policies that discriminated against ethnic Nepalis.
The government implemented strict dress regulations and prohibited the Nepali language in 1989. Those who opposed were harassed, coerced, and expelled.
While international law discourages sending people back to nations with histories of persecution, the Trump administration's recent immigration enforcement has resulted in deportations to unstable states such as Libya and South Sudan.
While Bhutan was included in a draft "red list" of nations subject to US travel restrictions, it was not included in the final June release. This contributes to the ambiguity of US-Bhutanian diplomatic ties as well as the status of stateless Lhotshampa refugees.
