Bhutan, often celebrated for its commitment to Gross National Happiness and its breathtaking landscapes, faces growing international scrutiny over its human rights practices. While the country projects an image of prosperity, inclusivity, and cultural preservation, systemic issues related to political prisoners, refugees, ethnic minorities, and the treatment of Bhutanese refugees persist beneath this facade. These concerns were prominently raised during Bhutan’s 2024 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations on November 6, where countries including the United States, Germany, Canada, and Spain presented strong recommendations to address ongoing human rights violations. However, Bhutan’s response was one of denial and rejection, underscoring its reluctance to engage in meaningful reform.
Bhutanese refugees’ struggle for justice
The Bhutanese refugee crisis remains unresolved, decades after over 120,000 ethnic Nepali-speaking Bhutanese were expelled in the 1990s. Fleeing persecution for their ethnicity and political beliefs, these individuals sought refuge in camps in eastern Nepal. While the majority were resettled in third countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Denmark, Norway and The Netherlands by 2016, approximately 6,500 refugees remain in Nepal, still awaiting the right to return home with dignity and honor.
The international community has consistently urged Bhutan to facilitate the voluntary repatriation of these refugees. During the UPR, France and the United States called on Bhutan to create conditions that would allow their safe return with full citizenship rights. Yet, Bhutan has persistently denied the existence of a significant refugee issue, framing it as a bilateral matter with Nepal and refusing to amend nationality laws or restore citizenship rights to displaced individuals. This refusal to act violates international human rights standards and exacerbates the suffering of thousands who remain in limbo.
Additionally, former Bhutanese refugees who have become citizens of resettled countries are now facing visa denials when attempting to visit long-separated family members in Bhutan. These individuals are denied tourist visas solely based on their refugee background, further prolonging their suffering and reinforcing Bhutan’s discriminatory policies.
Bhutan’s treatment of political prisoners was another significant point of contention during the UPR. The United States, Germany, Portugal, and Spain urged Bhutan to grant unconditional amnesty to individuals detained for peacefully expressing political views and to allow independent monitoring of its prison system. These recommendations highlighted the need to review politically motivated long-term prison sentences and ensure that trials meet international human rights standards. Bhutan, however, rejected these calls, asserting that all trials adhered to due process and promoting its “open prison system,” a claim that lacks transparency and fairness. Bhutan’s deceit is evident in its timeline of actions. It falsely claimed to allow international prison monitors, while in reality, it has banned the ICRC from visiting prisons since 2012. The last time it allowed a visit from the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention was in September 2019, and it even stopped ICRC-facilitated family visits, severely impacting the families.
To truly embody its ideals of happiness and inclusivity, Bhutan must confront deep-rooted issues of political repression, refugee rights, and ethnic discrimination.
Despite the supposed benefits of an open prison system, political prisoners are often excluded from such leniency. Reports suggest that prison conditions and privileges are determined by favoritism based on ethnicity. The cases of Ram Bahadur Rai and Madhukar Mongar exemplify this injustice. After serving 32 and 30 years in prison, they were deported to India without even being granted time to reunite with relatives. They ultimately sought shelter in refugee camps in Nepal, highlighting Bhutan’s continued failure to rehabilitate political prisoners.
Advocating for the release of these prisoners has been a key focus of the Global Campaign for the Release of Political Prisoners in Bhutan (GCRPPB), founded in 2019 and mandated by the prisoners’ families. The GCRPPB played a crucial role in Bhutan’s 2024 UPR, pushing for amnesty and independent monitoring of Bhutan’s prison system. The campaign shed light on the extreme torture and systematic injustice faced by political prisoners and urged the international community to hold Bhutan accountable.
Land grab
Another troubling issue is the exploitation of land once occupied by forcibly evicted Bhutanese citizens. Many Nepali-speaking Bhutanese were expelled in the 1990s, and their lands have since been repurposed for state-backed development projects, including the Gelephu Mindfulness City. Marketed as a wellness and mindfulness hub, this initiative is mostly built on land that was unjustly seized without due process or compensation.
The development of Gelephu Mindfulness City epitomizes the state’s disregard for displaced communities. By profiting from land taken from marginalized ethnic groups, Bhutan reinforces historical injustices and further alienates those who were stripped of their citizenship and homes.
Erasing cultural identity
A subtler yet equally damaging form of discrimination is the erasure of cultural identities through the renaming of geographical locations, cultural landmarks, and historical sites. Many historically significant places that once bore local names have been renamed to align with the dominant ethnic Ngalong narrative. This systematic effort seeks to erase the cultural and historical significance of the Nepali-speaking Bhutanese community.
By replacing indigenous names with Ngalong names, Bhutan effectively denies recognition of the cultural heritage of Nepali-speaking Bhutanese. This cultural erasure further marginalizes these communities, reinforcing the government’s agenda of national homogeneity under Ngalong culture.
No right to education in Nepali language
In addition to cultural erasure, Bhutan continues to suppress the educational rights of its Nepali-speaking citizens. The government banned the Nepali language curriculum in primary schools in the 1990s as part of an effort to enforce a national identity centered on the Drukpa culture and language. Despite repeated international calls to reinstate Nepali language education, Bhutan has refused to act, depriving Nepali-speaking children of the right to learn in their mother tongue.
Denying a linguistic minority access to education in their native language constitutes a serious human rights violation.
Bhutan denies
During Bhutan’s 2024 Universal Periodic Review, the international community presented numerous recommendations addressing statelessness, refugees, political prisoners and other ethnic discriminations. Many countries also recommended that Bhutan establish an independent human rights body in accordance with the Paris Principles to address these issues. However, Bhutan has persistently rejected such recommendations, demonstrating a clear lack of sincerity in addressing human rights violations within the country.
Bhutan claims that three of its nine cabinet ministers are from the ethnic Nepali-speaking community, using this as evidence that no discrimination exists. However, this assertion is merely an eyewash designed to placate the international community. These individuals wield little to no real power, and the ground reality remains unchanged for the broader Nepali-speaking population, which continues to face systemic discrimination and exclusion.
By framing refugee issue as a bilateral dispute with Nepal and dismissing calls for amnesty and independent monitoring of prisons, Bhutan demonstrated an unwillingness to confront its human rights issues. This rejection of international recommendations further isolates Bhutan from the global community and perpetuates systemic injustices within its borders.
Urgent need for meaningful reform
Bhutan’s response to the UPR underscores a broader reluctance to engage with the international community on human rights. To truly embody its ideals of happiness and inclusivity, Bhutan must confront deep-rooted issues of political repression, refugee rights, and ethnic discrimination. Denial and deflection will only prolong suffering and damage Bhutan’s credibility on the global stage.
The international community must continue pressing Bhutan for meaningful reforms. Until Bhutan acknowledges and addresses these long-standing human rights violations, its reputation as a model of happiness and progress will remain an illusion rather than a reality. The time for genuine reform is now.
Ram Karki is an exiled Bhutanese Human Rights Activist based in The Hague. He is also the founder of GCRPPB and is actively engaging in the UPR process with stakeholders in Geneva. He can be reached at [email protected].
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