Lhotshampa
The Lhotshampa (also called Nepalese Bhutanese ) are an ethnic group in Bhutan . They live mainly in the south of the country; Lhotsampa means "southerners" in the Bhutanese national language Dzongkha .
The Lhotshampa had immigrated to Bhutan from Nepal in search of land and economic livelihoods since the late 19th century and had settled in the sparsely populated southern lowlands. They had little contact with the long -established population groups of Bhutan, the Ngalong and Sarchop . So the Lhotshampa also kept their Nepalese language and culture. Most are Hindus , although there are also Buddhists among them.
The Bhutanese government accepted all Nepalese who came to the country before 1958; however, immigration continued beyond that. From the mid-1980s there were efforts on the part of the government to assimilate the Lhotshampa to the prevailing culture in Bhutan. At the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, a large part of the Lhotshampa was finally withdrawn from Bhutanese citizenship. Around 100,000 of them were deported to Nepal or had to flee there.
In 2007 the USA agreed to take in 60,000 Lhotshampa refugees, with more to be settled in other third countries. The relocation should begin in 2008.
On November 19, 2015, the hundred thousandth refugee was resettled. On this occasion, the Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli thanked the host countries. Almost 85,000 people were taken in by the USA, 6500 by Canada, about 554 by Australia, 1002 by New Zealand. Several hundred people were able to enter Great Britain, the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark. An estimated 10–12,000 refugees are currently still living in the Nepalese refugee camps.
Taking into account the refugees in Nepal, the Lhotshampa make up around 28 percent of Bhutan's population.
Web links
- Satya Shrestha-Schipper: Bhutanese Nepalis or Nepali Bhutanese? IIAS Newsletter, 41, 16, 2006
Individual evidence
- ↑ One lakh Bhutanese refugees resettled outside Nepal , The Himalayan Times on November 19, 2015