Beginning with a 1988 census that reclassified many long-settled residents as illegal immigrants, the Kingdom of Bhutan carried out a campaign under the banner "One Nation, One People" against the Lhotshampa, its ethnic Nepali minority, predominantly Hindu against a constitutionally Buddhist state. On 16 January 1989 the government extended the Driglam Namzha, its formal code of dress, etiquette and public conduct, nationwide, replacing Nepali with Dzongkha as the language of instruction and requiring all citizens to follow the national dress code. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch documented that the crackdown reached religion, language and dress together, and that Lhotshampa who resisted were labeled "antinationals" and reportedly arrested and subjected to rape and torture. The result was the largest forced displacement in Bhutan's modern history: more than 100,000 people, roughly one sixth of the country's population, were expelled into refugee camps in eastern Nepal by the mid-1990s.
Facts
Consequences
What It SettledSourced to the subject's own accountMore than 100,000 Lhotshampa were displaced into refugee camps in eastern Nepal by the mid-1990s, the largest forced displacement in Bhutan's modern history. No source consulted gives a death toll for the expulsion campaign itself, so none is recorded here. Beginning in 2007, the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration launched a resettlement programme to relocate refugees to third countries including the United States, Canada, Australia and several European states; more than 100,000 have since been resettled, with the United States alone receiving roughly 96,000, while several thousand remained in camps in Nepal as of the late 2010s still hoping for repatriation to Bhutan, an option the Bhutanese government has not granted at scale. 2 Displaced (Low Estimate)Sourced to the subject's own accountThe figure both sources consulted give consistently: more than 100,000 Lhotshampa displaced, roughly one sixth of Bhutan's population at the time. Displaced (High Estimate)Sourced to the subject's own accountThe more precise figure given for those actually processed through the later third-country resettlement programme (about 113,500 relocated since 2007), offered as an upper bound alongside the round "more than 100,000" figure both sources lead with; not a settled ceiling on the true total displaced, since it counts resettlement outcomes rather than the original 1990s expulsion itself. The Event
When It HappenedSourced to the subject's own account1988 census reclassification, 16 January 1989 nationwide Driglam Namzha extension, 1990 southern Bhutan protests, expulsions continuing into the mid-1990s with the great majority of the more than 100,000 displaced in refugee camps by 1996. 1 PeriodSourced to the subject's own account Principal PartiesSourced to the subject's own accountThe Kingdom of Bhutan's government, which enacted the 1988 census reclassification and the 1989 Driglam Namzha extension. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the two organizations whose documentation this atlas relies on for the reported arrests, rape and torture of resisters labeled "antinationals." 1 Victim GroupSourced to the subject's own accountThe Lhotshampa, Bhutan's ethnic Nepali minority, predominantly Hindu, who made up roughly one sixth of Bhutan's population before the expulsion. More than 100,000 were displaced into refugee camps in Nepal. 1 Perpetrator RegimeSourced to the subject's own accountThe Kingdom of Bhutan's government, acting through the 1988 census reclassification and the 16 January 1989 nationwide "One Nation, One People" policy and Driglam Namzha extension. This is a state cultural and citizenship policy with a documented religious strand rather than a persecution by one religious tradition against another; no perpetrator-tradition edge is written. 1 Status
Official RecognitionSourced to the subject's own accountNot formally recognized by any body 2 Recognition BasisSourced to the subject's own accountNo international judicial body has issued a genocide or crimes-against-humanity determination naming the expulsion; the Bhutanese government has not formally acknowledged wrongdoing or offered repatriation at scale. International response has instead taken the form of the UNHCR and IOM-led third-country resettlement programme launched in 2007, which has relocated more than 100,000 Lhotshampa refugees, and continuing documentation by human-rights organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. 2 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Bhutan, Countries The expulsion was carried out by the Bhutanese state across southern Bhutan, the Lhotshampa's home region.
Hinduism, Religions The Lhotshampa were predominantly Hindu. This is an Associated With edge to the tradition documented as one strand of the campaign's target, not a perpetrator-tradition edge; the perpetrator was the Bhutanese state.
Sources
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