Land Of The Thunder Dragon

Bhutan is a landlocked country in South Asia, bordered to the north by China and to the east, west and south by India. The Bhutanese name for Bhutan is ‘Druk Yul’ meaning ‘Land of the Thunder Dragon’ and just recently began to allow outsiders into the country.

Since the early 1990’s, over one sixth of the Bhutanese population has sought asylum in neighboring countries such as Nepal and elsewhere around the world. The majority of these refugees are Lhotshampas, one of Bhutan’s main ethnic groups. Organizations such as Amnesty International have stated in reports that the removal of a vast number of Lhotshampas was premeditated and implemented with thorough attention to detail by the Bhutanese government.

Why are the Bhutanese leaving their country in such remarkable numbers?

Here are just a few of many reasons:

• Discrimination against ethnic Nepali children including access to education, health care and landownership.

• Denial of the rights of cultural or linguistic minorities to practice their own customs, culture and language.

• Sexual violence and other forms of abuse against women and girls.

 Bhutan still has an opportunity to escape the brutal conflict that their policies of ethnic suppression cultivate. In order to do so, Bhutan must stop their tactics of removing minorities out of the picture of national identity, and instead grant them the dignity and rights to which they are entitled.