Introduction
This account will attempt to assess the extent to which the
Bhutanese crisis resembles the situation described by Smith (1994), in which
the rise of nationalism forces the flight of an excluded minority etc.
Bhutan
: Ethnic Groups
The Bhutanese can be divided into three broad
ethno-linguistic groups: the Ngalongs (or Ngalops) of the
west; the Sharchhops of the east; and the Lhotshampas (or
'Nepali Bhutanese') of the extreme south. There are also many
other smaller groups etc.
Political Developments.
Citizenship
In 1958, the 'Lhotshampa' population of the
southern districts of Bhutan was granted Bhutanese citizenship
and tenure of its lands etc.
Driglam
Namzhag
Bhutan's sixth Five-Year Plan
(1987-92) included a policy of 'one nation, one people' and
introduced a code of traditional Drukpa dress and etiquette
called Driglam Namzhag.
Language
At
the beginning of the school year in March 1990 the teaching
of Nepali was discontinued and all Nepali curricular materials
disappeared from Bhutanese schools. 
The Growth of
Dissent
The People's Forum for Human
Rights, the Bhutan People's Party and the Students'
Union of Bhutan organized mass public demonstrations in
southern Bhutan in September and October 1990 that were
unprecedented in the kingdom's history.
'Voluntary
Emigration'
The origins
of the Camp Population
The Camps
The Search
for a Political Solution
Conclusion
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Introduction
The
Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan was isolated for 300 years.
Peoples of Bhutan
...three main ethnic groups - the
Ngalong in the west, the Sharchhop in the east, and the Nepalis in the
south-comprise perhaps 85 per cent of the total population.
The Indian Connection
India
finances 40 per cent of the Bhutan government's expenditure
and receives at least 80 per cent of Bhutan's exports
Seeds of Conflict
In about 1898, the Bhutanese government began settling
Nepalis in the south, in order to open up hitherto unexploited
lands for cultivation etc.
Political Unrest
In July1989, a small group of dissidents, led by Tek Nath
Rizal, a former Royal Advisory Council member in Bhutan, set
up the People's Forum for Human Rights (PFHR) in Nepal.
Between October and December 1989, 45 people were arrested in
Bhutan for writing and circulating "seditious
pamphlets."
Refugee problem
After
the demonstrations, the Bhutanese army and police began the
task of identifying participants and supporters, who were
classed as Ngolops (anti-nationals), and the flow of
refugees out of Bhutan began. It reached a peak in May 1992,
with 11,000 arrivals recorded for that month in the camps in
Nepal.
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