Earlier this summer when I told my Grandmother that I would volunteer at a refugee resettlement agency, she asked where the most people were coming from these days. I said that I heard the majority were from Bhutan but I didn't know anything about Bhutan yet since I hadn't yet started. Today I got a letter from her in the mail and she included the following article she encountered (I don't know the source):
"High Spirits"
"Bhutan has come up with a warm and fuzzy way to access the state of the nation. Believing that bliss is more important than business, the tiny Himalayan country measures Gross National Happiness instead of Gross National Product. In a recent poll, 4% of people described themselves as unhappy, and 96% said that they were happy or, even better, very happy. :-)"
This was surrounded by pictures of smiling Bhutanese children.
Then she asked, If the people there are so happy why are they coming to this country?
Now that's a really good question that has a strange answer but I'm going to do my best to tell what I know of Bhutan because it's extremely fascinating.
Bhutan is situated in the Himalayas south of China, North of India, and to the right of Nepal.
Bhutan is nicknamed the "happiest place on earth" for its peaceful lifestyle and many celebrities have gone there for vacation. It's crazy expensive to visit and much of the country's income comes from tourism. It's one of the most undeveloped countries and had no proper roads, schooling, or currency until the 70's . It even had no law or government till 100 years ago.
As you can see, it's mindbogglingly gorgeous. Even I want to go there.
If you're interested here is a short 5 minute video showing you Bhutan.
I would also recommend "The Price of Knowledge" about a young Northern boy going to school in Bhutan
Since Bhutan was so underdeveloped until recently (and still is fairly underdeveloped by our standards), they hired Nepali laborers to help modernize the country by building roads and such. However, they stayed in Southern Bhutan until they eventually made up about 49% of the population, which freaked out the monarchy because they were scared of being overrun by the Southern Bhutanese (ethnically Nepali). Because of this, the government decided to institute a policy of Bhutanization, creating one nation with one culture. The Southern Bhutanese mostly speak Nepali, have slightly darker skin than Northern Bhutanese, and are Hindu as opposed to the Buddhist Northerners. I'm not sure how accurate this is but I've also heard that the expulsion was partially because they were afraid that the Southern Bhutanese were detrimental to Bhutan's tourism.
As you can see, this didn't fly with the one nation one culture policy so approximately 1/6 (100,000 ppl) of Bhutan's entire population was expelled. They were issued "voluntary" migration forms, but were forced to sign and flee if they didn't want to be arrested and tortured like many were. Despite all this, most of the Bhutanese I've spoken to say that they love their king still and seem convinced that this is not his doing (and that I do not know).
They've fled to Nepal, where they've been set up in refugee camps but that was 20 years ago! Not much has changed yet. Nepal won't accept the Southern Bhutanese to integrate them into their country and they are unable to leave the camps or hold jobs. They are also not allowed to return to Bhutan, although many love their home country and greatly with to return. Do you sense a problem here? This is a dead end! where are these people supposed to go? They can't even become self sufficient if not allowed to hold jobs so there is no way they can make progress.
This is why the U.S. is stepping in and plans to slowly over many years take in about 60,000 of the 100,000 displaced refugees. And this is where I got to meet several Bhutanese! :D
What makes the Bhutanese situation so mysterious and elusive is that most Bhutanese will not speak of the refugee issue. If asked they will simply tell you that they do not speak of that. I was lucky to speak to a man who was open about it but most are not. I think this is part of why most people are completely unaware of the refugee situation in Bhutan.
here is another resource about Bhutanese refugees which is really interesting and short, if you're interested.
It's 1:41 in the morning so I'm going to go to sleep now.
"High Spirits"
"Bhutan has come up with a warm and fuzzy way to access the state of the nation. Believing that bliss is more important than business, the tiny Himalayan country measures Gross National Happiness instead of Gross National Product. In a recent poll, 4% of people described themselves as unhappy, and 96% said that they were happy or, even better, very happy. :-)"
This was surrounded by pictures of smiling Bhutanese children.
Then she asked, If the people there are so happy why are they coming to this country?
Now that's a really good question that has a strange answer but I'm going to do my best to tell what I know of Bhutan because it's extremely fascinating.
Bhutan is situated in the Himalayas south of China, North of India, and to the right of Nepal.
Bhutan is nicknamed the "happiest place on earth" for its peaceful lifestyle and many celebrities have gone there for vacation. It's crazy expensive to visit and much of the country's income comes from tourism. It's one of the most undeveloped countries and had no proper roads, schooling, or currency until the 70's . It even had no law or government till 100 years ago.
As you can see, it's mindbogglingly gorgeous. Even I want to go there.
If you're interested here is a short 5 minute video showing you Bhutan.
I would also recommend "The Price of Knowledge" about a young Northern boy going to school in Bhutan
Since Bhutan was so underdeveloped until recently (and still is fairly underdeveloped by our standards), they hired Nepali laborers to help modernize the country by building roads and such. However, they stayed in Southern Bhutan until they eventually made up about 49% of the population, which freaked out the monarchy because they were scared of being overrun by the Southern Bhutanese (ethnically Nepali). Because of this, the government decided to institute a policy of Bhutanization, creating one nation with one culture. The Southern Bhutanese mostly speak Nepali, have slightly darker skin than Northern Bhutanese, and are Hindu as opposed to the Buddhist Northerners. I'm not sure how accurate this is but I've also heard that the expulsion was partially because they were afraid that the Southern Bhutanese were detrimental to Bhutan's tourism.
As you can see, this didn't fly with the one nation one culture policy so approximately 1/6 (100,000 ppl) of Bhutan's entire population was expelled. They were issued "voluntary" migration forms, but were forced to sign and flee if they didn't want to be arrested and tortured like many were. Despite all this, most of the Bhutanese I've spoken to say that they love their king still and seem convinced that this is not his doing (and that I do not know).
They've fled to Nepal, where they've been set up in refugee camps but that was 20 years ago! Not much has changed yet. Nepal won't accept the Southern Bhutanese to integrate them into their country and they are unable to leave the camps or hold jobs. They are also not allowed to return to Bhutan, although many love their home country and greatly with to return. Do you sense a problem here? This is a dead end! where are these people supposed to go? They can't even become self sufficient if not allowed to hold jobs so there is no way they can make progress.
This is why the U.S. is stepping in and plans to slowly over many years take in about 60,000 of the 100,000 displaced refugees. And this is where I got to meet several Bhutanese! :D
What makes the Bhutanese situation so mysterious and elusive is that most Bhutanese will not speak of the refugee issue. If asked they will simply tell you that they do not speak of that. I was lucky to speak to a man who was open about it but most are not. I think this is part of why most people are completely unaware of the refugee situation in Bhutan.
here is another resource about Bhutanese refugees which is really interesting and short, if you're interested.
It's 1:41 in the morning so I'm going to go to sleep now.
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