Bhutanese refugee biography

In 1990-91, about a sixth of Bhutan's population was expelled from their homes from the southern districts bordering India. Today over 96,000 reside in seven refugee camps in Nepal, while another 30,000 live outside these camps in Nepal and India.

Having spent ten years in exile, the refugees want to go back home. The Bhutanese government, however, has been unwilling to allow the refugees back. In negotiations with the government of Nepal and in its international pronouncements, the central argument of the Bhutanese government has been that the refugees have not come from Bhutan and are therefore not Bhutanese citizens.

AHURA Bhutan – a non-partisan and non-governmental human rights group formed in 1992 by Bhutanese refugees in exile – has developed a project, entitled Documentation of Bhutanese Refugees, to prove the falsity of the Bhutanese government claim.

Through their Digitalised Database of Bhutanese Refugees, AHURA-Bhutan presents incontrovertible evidence o