Tom Neupane Issue Exploration Essay Kelly Turnbeaugh (EN 1010-028) Bhutan Should Take Their Citizen Back

There were thousands of Bhutanese refugees living in a bamboo huts for 21 years in south-East of Nepal those are exile from Bhutan, The happiest country in the world. Those peoples are the most forgotten people in the world. I explore my research on those forgotten people and the problems they are facing for several years. Some of them choose to resettle in another country and start their new life but there are steel thousands of refugees in the camp who want to return back to their mother land, Bhutan, and want to get back their property from the government and resume their life in their own land. I want to peruse that the Bhutan should take them back and give them their own property and a legal citizenship and let them enjoy their wonderful life in their country. Refugees have the right under international law to return to their own country. The first problem Bhutanese refugees are having is the legal identity. They were expel from Bhutan and are leaving in the refugee camps in Nepal for 21 years having no any legal status of neither of the country. The second, most important problems they are facing is health problems. There are thousands of refugees in the camp are living in crowd of peoples with a lot of infectious disease. The next problem is the Economic problems. They have no any single source of income and they need to depend upon the donation from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Another problems they are facing in the refugee camps is social crimes. It is really hard to keep the crowd of thousands of people in a peace community. The last problems I am going to talks about the refugees is the educational problems. There are not any jobs for refugees even if they have a degree. It is true that the every creature in this word want to have their own territory and have own identity. But, the refugees doesnt belongs to any territory nor they have any identity. According to the UNHCR, as of 8 September 2009, more than 20,000 refugees from Bhutan have now left Nepal to begin new lives in third countries under one of UNHCRs largest

resettlement programs. More than 78,000 refugees have expressed an interest in resettlement so far and further 5,000 are expected to leave Nepal for third countries by the end of the year. But, some 91,000 refugees from Bhutan remain in Nepal. Many have lived in exile for more than 21 years. Those who resettled hope to adjust in the new community and get a legal citizenship of the country. Those who are hopeless and have no any identity. They do not belongs to any countries. They are called Refugees. Those who choose to resettle in the third countries deleted their title as a refugees but those who are steel in the camp and do not want to resettle in the third countries, doesnt want to lose their religion, culture, and tradition should be taken care. Bhutan should respect their love towards the nationalism and need to take them back to the country and give their land and property without any obligation. Another main leading issues for the refugees is the health problems. The refugees huts are very close to one another. Even the next door neighbor will listen when a person cough inside the bamboo huts. Being so much crowd people, mostly children, elders and pregnant women are in high risk of getting infectious disease. Lack of popper sanitation and clean water for personal hygiene cause the most sickness. Although, Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA Nepal), is actively working in providing quality health for the refugees but due to the large number of sick people in hospital, refugees were lacking from getting quality health care. The health care program is free to the refugees but for the major medical needs like surgery, imaging, and any other ICUs, AMDA Nepal does not provide any kind of support. The refugees need to adjust all the necessary money which is impossible and the result is the death. According to the Duke Global Health Institute, explore the mental health of those Bhutanese refugees who are increasingly at higher risk for developing a mental illness. Mental health is the leading health issue among the Bhutanese refugees which results unusually high risk of suicides in the relocated refugees. Usually, mental illness is the leading issues among the Bhutanese refugees. It is very true that many families are relocated to areas of the country based on the factors of availability. This plays a vital role in refugees feelings of isolation post resettlement.

Another problems facing by the Bhutanese refugees is the economic problems. Refugees were not allowed to work. They are not even allowed to leave the refugee camp. If someone is cough being outside of the refugee camp, the refugee administration will cancel his resin and other facilities they have been receiving from agencies. So, the refugees have no any single source of income and need to depend totally to the donating agencies. There is no any choice of food they eat every day. They need to eat what the UNHCR donate them, they need to ware what the agency provide them and need to live with the shelter they provide for them. They need to sleep before the dark surround the camp because there is no any electricity supply for the refugees camps. There will be more social crime in a dark. Keeping all the refugees in the camp with a tight security is the challenge facing by the refugees agencies because the dark nights welcomes the game of the social crime. Controlling all the domestic violence and protecting women and children is the impossible task to do. Having those worse economic conditions and loose security systems, refugees are always hoping to go back to their country and want to work and earn money. Want to have their own house and property. So, Bhutan should give them a change to enjoy their life on their land and let them fertilized their land with their sweat. The last issue that I am going to talk about the Bhutanese refugee is the educational problems. Everybody know that the future with an education is dark. Caritas Nepal is helping with the educational needs of the refugee children. The classes were crowed with almost 60 students in a small room. Limited arability of text books and notebooks makes the teaching and learning program complicated. The Bhutanese refugee children will get free education up to grade 10 which is high school diploma. After completing high school, there are only little hope continuing higher education. If any student manage to continue this college education and receive his diploma, then the diploma will be rest in the enclosed suitcase because refugees were not allowed to work outside the refugee camp. Therefore, there is no any job for the graduate refugee students in refugee camps in Nepal. Bhutan should respect those smart kids and need to give them second chance to lean and can lead the country in future. Youths are the pillar of the country.

According to the Caritas Nepal who have been helping refugee education announced that the funds for running the schools are being reduced. It is learn that more than 8000 boys and girls of the refugees will not be able to pursue education beyond 10 th standard. Avenues for getting scholarships for higher education beyond 12th standard have been closed. Nepal is another country of shelter for Bhutanese refugees. Nepal has completed 15 rounds of negotiations with Bhutan and there is no indication that an agreeable resolution will be found in the near future. Nepal also failed to involve India which it should have, when both Nepal and Bhutan have special relations with India and there is a vast stretch of Indian Territory that the helpless refugees were pushed across before entering eastern Nepal from Bhutan. Besides the refugees, the organization most frustrated would be the UNHCR who had taken upon itself to look after the refugees for many years at a cost of more than five million dollars annually.

Source: We Lost Our Home Not the Future. REFUGEES VOICE. March 28, 2011. Web. August 04, 2013

Despite the repeated appeals of the refugees and the Nepal government, the Bhutanese never permitted the agency any role in the verification, deportation or post deportation of the refugees. It is not that Bhutan had any view on this, but turned it down mainly due to Indian sensitivity. At World Refugee Day, some women carried a pamphlets to convey their message to the world that We lost our Home not the future and One Refugee without hope is too many. Also refugees so called homeless, hopeless, stateless and what else if the medium of being themselves is aimless. They are now in a desperate situation. They have lost hope of returning to their homes with dignity. While India is providing scholarships for admission to government institutions and universities for Bhutanese and Nepalese, the refugees come under neither category and higher education is being denied to them. This is going to create a major social problem and there is a case for India to relax the rules and admit them with scholarships. This is a humanitarian problem and not a political or ethnic one and Bhutan government is not going to object either. There are some possible solutions to this Bhutanese refugees problems. The UNHCR should also begin the initiative of settling the more vulnerable of the refugees. After looking the refugees for so many years, it should ensure that resettlement program however small may be, is started. It should open the other doors for those who want to return back to their mother land instead of resettling in different other countries. The Nepal should give a chance to refugees to start new life and resettle those refugees who want to resettle in Nepal. In this Issue Exploration Essay, my position is, Bhutan should take back its citizens, respecting their rights to return to their homes in southern Bhutan. People have no any legal status while living in a refugee camps. They are not allowed to work and they need a place to show their skills and knowledge. They are having a major health problems and dying on a bed with poor economic conditions. Their lands and properties were left in Bhutan. They should get their land back and let them live freely.

Work Cited: Addressing a Stigmatized Health Issue among Bhutanese Refugees. Duke Global Health Institute. May 02, 1012. Web. August 02, 2013. https://globalhealth.duke.edu/media/news/addressing-stigmatized-health-issue-amongbhutanese-refugees BHUTANESE REFUGEES: The Story of a Forgotten People. Photo Voice. Web. August 03, 2013 http://www.photovoice.org/bhutan/index.php?id=3 Last Hope. Volume 19, No 7(C). Human Right Watch. May 2007:04-10. Web (PDF). August 02, 2013 http://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/bhutan0507/bhutan0507webwcover.pdf Mahecic, Andrej. Over 20,000 Bhutanese refugees resettled form Nepal. UNHCR. September 08, 2009. Web. August 03, 2013. http://www.unhcr.org/4aa641446.html Preiss, Danielle. Bhutanese Refugees Are Killing Themselves at an Astonishing Rate. The Atlantic. April 13, 2013. Web. August 5, 2013. http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/04/bhutanese-refugees-are-killingthemselves-at-an-astonishing-rate/274959/ UNHCR welcomes European Commission donation for Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. Nepal News. December 28, 2011. Web. August 4, 2013. http://www.nepalnews.com/home/index.php/news/2/15586-unhcr-welcomes-europeancommission-donation-for-bhutanese-refugees-in-nepal.html We Lost Our Home Not the Future. REFUGEES VOICE. March 28, 2011. Web. August 04, 2013 http://refugeesvoice.wordpress.com/category/bhutanese-refugees/bhutanese-refugees-news/