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 Nationality, The Core Issue

     

CULTURAL CLEANSING
A Distinct National Identity and the Refugees from Southern Bhutan

D.B. Thronson
Harvard Law School Boston,USA(Was an intern at INHURED International at the time of writing this documentl)

Introduction Exile in Nepal

Demographic, Diaspora and Greater Nepal

Southern Bhutan Today
Nationality, The Core Issue The Camps
Ambiguities and First Census Categorisation & Diplomatic Time Line

Driglan Namza, Language & Green Belt Policy

Nationality Laws of Bhutan
No Objection Certificates Bhutan Marriage Act
Protest, Mass Arrests & Torture

Refugees from Bhutan: Nationality, Statelessness & Right to Return
Tang Lay Lee

The author presently practices as a lawyer in Singapore, and has worked extensively on human rights and international law issues, particularly nationality and statelessness. Research for this article on Bhutanese refugee was undertaken during a period as Legal Research Advocate with the Jesuit Refugee Services - Asia Pacific. The support of JRS-Asia Pacific, which was then involved in an education programme in the Bhutanese refugee camps and saw the project as a contribution to efforts to help resolve the situation, is gratefully acknowledged. The views expressed are those of the authors, however, and are not necessarily shared by JRS.

Introduction
1. Historical Background
1.1 Population and Ethnicity
1.2 King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck
1.3 Non-Nationals
1.3.1 Nationality Laws: Tightening Up
1.3.2

Southern Protest and Government Reactions

1.3.3 Refugee Outflow
2. The Legal Issues
2.1 The Legal System of Bhutan
2.2 Bhutanese Nationality Laws
2.4 'Voluntary Migration Forms'
2.5 1985 Citizenship Act and International Law
2.5.4

Bhutanese Nationality laws, Denationalisation and Mass Expulsion

2.6 Bhutan and International Conventions
3. Lhotshampa Refugees: Statelessness and the Right to Return
3.1

Right to Return and the 1951 Refugee Convention

3.2 Right to Return and the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
4. Conclusion and Recommendations



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