Immigration in Bhutan
Encyclopedia
Immigration in Bhutan
has an extensive history and has become one of the country's most contentious social, political, and legal issues. Since the twentieth century, Bhutanese immigration and citizenship laws have been promulgated as acts of the royal government, often by decree of the Druk Gyalpo on advice of the rest of government. Immigration policy and procedure are implemented
by the Lhengye Zhungtshog
(Council of Ministers) Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs
, Department of Immigration. Bhutan's first modern laws regarding immigration and citizenship were the Bhutanese Citizenship Act 1958
and subsequent amendments in 1977. The 1958 Act was superseded by the Bhutanese Citizenship Act 1985, which was then supplemented by a further Immigration Act in 2007. The Constitution of 2008
included some changes in Bhutan's immigration laws, policy, and procedure, however prior law not inconsistent with the 2008 Constitution remained intact. Bhutan's modern citizenship laws and policies reinforce the institution of the Bhutanese monarchy, require familiarity and adherence to Ngalop
social norms, and reflect the social impact of the most recent immigrant groups.
Historically, there have been at least five distinct waves of human migration into Bhutan. The first record of human movement into Bhutan is the settlement of the region by Tibetan
Buddhists
, thoroughly established by AD 600. Before Tibetans settled Bhutan, the area was populated by the aboriginal Monpa, who practiced the shamanistic Bön religion. The second wave is represented by Bhutan's Sharchop population, who arrived from Burma or Assam sometime in the first millennium. The third wave of human migration was that of Nepalis and Indians as craftsmen, migrant workers, and slaves in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A fourth, much smaller wave of Tibetans came to Bhutan beginning in 1959, followed fifth by continued immigration from India and Nepal during Bhutan's development projects in the 1960s despite a government ban in 1958.
in the Bhutan House
. Amnesty was given through the Citizenship Act of 1958
– Bhutan's first modern laws regarding immigration and citizenship – for all those who could prove their presence in Bhutan for at least 10 years prior to 1958. On the other hand, the government also banned further immigration in 1958. The Act was pronounced by the Druk Gyalpo King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck
among a series of legal and social reforms in 1958 designed to begin modernizing Bhutan, including the abolition of slavery
. The 1958 Act defined Bhutanese citizenship in patrilineal terms, and provided a basic framework for the process of naturalization
in Bhutan. Initially, applicants other than wives of Bhutanese citizens were required to show a ten year residency, five years of service to the government, and ownership of agricultural land. The 1958 Act originally defined no procedural framework for immigration. It also allowed the King to make ad hoc changes to the law, and left decisions largely to the discretion of the King and government officials.
In 1977, an amendment lengthened the residency requirement for naturalization to 20 years (15 years if in service to Bhutan), and the requirement of owning agricultural land was eschewed. Deprivation of citizenship as a punishment for sedition
was expanded to associates and family relatives of seditious citizens. The amendment introduced other requirements, such as knowledge of Dzongkha and adherence to Ngalop customs
. The amendment also introduced a procedural framework for citizenship and naturalization; namely it codified procedural requirements for census registration and births abroad and designated the Ministry of Home Affairs
as the government agency
to oversee immigration matters. The 1958 Act and 1977 amendments were superseded by the Bhutanese Citizenship Act 1985, though much of the procedural framework established in 1977 remains de jure in effect because it was not overridden.
Since the Bhutanese Citizenship Act of 1985 and subsequent Immigration Act of 2007, immigration policy and procedure have been implemented
by the Lhengye Zhungtshog
(Council of Ministers), Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs
, Department of Immigration. Procedural safeguards for both naturalization and bona fide citizenship remained largely absent: applicants could be rejected for no reason at all, such decisions were final and binding, and even bona fide Bhutanese citizens faced deprivation of citizenship for sedition
. Placement and maintaining one's placement in the national census registry is of central importance to legitimizing and proving one's citizenship. Placement by government workers into census registry categories, which ranged from "Genuine Bhutanese" to "Non-nationals: Migrants and Illegal Settlers," has been arbitrary, and could be arbitrarily changed. In some cases members of the same family have been, and still are, placed in different categories. Furthermore, only the entries recorded at the Dzongkhag
(second highest) level are deemed valid; official local Dungkhag
, Gewog, Chewog
or other civil records are disregarded. Under the latest Immigration Act of 2007, department-level immigration officers were given a mandate, and left wide discretion, to enter private premises; examine documents, persons, and things; seize items; and arrest persons. These officers are immunized under the 2007 Act for all wrongful acts and omissions committed in good faith in the discharge of their duty.
Bhutanese immigration policy, as reflected in its citizenship laws, can be described as highly assimilatory
, requiring familiarity with the dominant Ngalop
culture and allegiance to the Ngalop King of Bhutan. Its broader citizenship policy toward both immigrants and citizens alike can also be described as assimilatory, and on its face, a tool against dissent
.
into the dominant Tibetan-Ngalop culture to varying degrees, one of the foremost concerns of modern Bhutanese immigration policy.
Before Tibetans settled Bhutan, much of the region was populated by the aboriginal Monpa who practiced the shamanistic Bön religion. Earliest records to the area which the Monpas inhabited today indicated the existence of a kingdom known as Monyul or Lhomon from 500 BC to 600 AD. Monyul spanned the areas of Eastern Bhutan, Tawang, Kameng and Southern Tibet. However, it remained thinly populated throughout its history. By the 7th century, Monyul had come under increasing Tibetan political and cultural influence. King Songtsen Gampo
, who ruled Tibet from AD 627–649, was responsible for the construction of Bhutan's oldest surviving Buddhist temples, the Kyichu Lhakhang
in Paro
and the Jambay Lhakhang
in Bumthang
.
The Sharchop
(meaning "easterner"), are thought to have migrated next from Assam
or Burma during the past millennium. Sharchop is a collective term for the populations of mixed Southeast Asian and South Asian descent found in the eastern districts of Bhutan.
A few other indigenous groups, however, remained largely beyond the pale of Tibetan settlement and cultural influence. Among these are the Tibetan Buddhist Lhop
and Hindu
Toto
peoples in the southwest.
In the seventeenth century, a Tibetan expatriate Drukpa monk, Ngawang Namgyal
established a theocratic government independent of political influence from Tibet proper, and premodern Bhutan emerged. Ngawang Namgyal arrived in Bhutan in 1616 seeking refuge from the domination of the Gelug
pa sect led by the Dalai Lama
in Lhasa. He established a new base in western Bhutan, founding Cheri Monastery
at the head of Thimphu valley. In 1627 he built Simtokha Dzong
at the entrance to Thimphu valley. From this dzong he exerted control over traffic between the powerful Paro valley to the west and Trongsa valley to the east. In the 1634 Battle of Five Lamas
, Ngawang Namgyal prevailed over the Tibetan and Bhutanese forces allied against him and was the first to unite Bhutan into a single country. He took the title shabdrung
, becoming the temporal and spiritual leader of Bhutan under a dual system of government
. He promulgated a code of law, the Tsa Yig
, and built a network of impregnable dzongs, a system that helped bring local lords under centralized control and strengthened the country against Tibetan invasions. Thus, more than 1,000 years of Tibetan influence and migration into the region brought about the formation of Bhutan.
Today, the term Ngalop
refers to those Bhutanese of ancient Tibetan descent who came to dominate Bhutan culturally and politically. The Ngalop are concentrated in the western and central valleys of Bhutan. They practice mostly Tibetan Buddhism
and speak Dzongkha. The Sharchop
comprise most of the population of eastern Bhutan. Although long the biggest ethnic group in Bhutan, the Sharchop have largely assimilated
into the Tibetan-Ngalop culture.
(meaning "southerner"), though a collective name may present an oversimplification because of the diversity within the group. The first reports of people of Nepal
ese origin in Bhutan was around 1620, when Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal commissioned Newar
craftsmen from the Kathmandu valley in Nepal to make a silver stupa
to contain the ashes of his father Tempa Nima. The Newar are an ethnic group distinct from the Bahun
s, Tamang
s, Gurung
s, Rai
s that form the Lhotsampa community.
The next small groups of Nepalese emigrated primarily from eastern Nepal under British Indian auspices in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Members of many ethnic groups, including forefathers of Lhotshampa and others from Sikkim
, the Assam
Duars
, and West Bengal
, were brought into Bhutan as slaves (the institution was abolished in 1958). Seasonal migrants commonly worked in the Bhutan Duars
, and began to settle in the 1880s. During the late 19th Century, contractors working for the Bhutanese government began to organise the settlement of Nepali-speaking people in uninhabited areas of southern Bhutan in order to open those areas up for cultivation. The south soon became the country's main supplier of food. By 1930, according to British colonial officials, much of the south was under cultivation by a population of Nepali origin that amounted to some 60,000 people.
Settlement in Bhutan of large numbers of people from Nepal happened for the first time in the early 20th century. This settlement was encouraged by the Bhutan House
in Kalimpong for the purpose of collecting taxes for the government. In the 1930s, the Bhutan House
settled 5,000 families of Nepali workers in Tsirang alone. In the 1940s, the British Political Officer Sir Basil Gould
was quoted as saying that when he warned Sir Raja Sonam Topgay Dorji
of Bhutan House
of the potential danger of allowing so many ethnic Nepalese to settle in southern Bhutan, he replied that "since they were not registered subjects they could be evicted whenever the need arose."
Furthermore, Lhotshampa were forbidden from settling north of the subtropical foothills. The beginning of Nepalese immigration largely coincided with Bhutan's political development: in 1885, Druk Gyalpo Ugyen Wangchuck
consolidated power after a period of civil unrest and cultivated closer ties with the British
in India
. In 1910, the government of Bhutan signed a treaty with the British in India, granting them control over Bhutan's foreign relations.
Mao Zedong
's Great Leap Forward
. Chinese demographers have estimated that 90,000 Tibetans became refugees
. The people of Bhutan deeply sympathized with the refugees and extended assistance as much as possible within their capacity. Those Tibetan refugees renounced the right to return to Tibet were granted Bhutanese citizenship, however the majority told Bhutanese authorities they would like to return to Tibet one day. As a result, they remained refugees.
In 1981, many Tibetan refugees in Bhutan chose to permanently resettle in India
and they were allowed to do so. About half of the initial Tibetan refugees chose to remain in Bhutan and continued to live in these in seven settlements located across Bhutan. The seven Tibetan settlements in Bhutan are: Khunpheling (village of Karche), Namling (village of Badgarnang), Yidmonling (village of Lhongtso), Raptenling, Kunga Rabtenling, Kelsangling, and Kungaling. Most of settlements have a small monastery, a primary school, and a small heath clinic.
In 1998, there were about 1,500 Tibetans living in Bhutan, and in 2007 there were about 1,883.
Life remains relatively difficult for Tibetan refugees in Bhutan. Without a security clearance — something they claim is virtually impossible to obtain — Tibetans cannot get government jobs, enrol their children in higher education or obtain licenses to run private business. Many get around that rule by renting shop licenses off native Bhutanese, but it leaves them in an uncomfortable limbo.
, blurring the line between citizens, legal residents, and persons illegally present.
From 1961 onward, with India
n support, the government began planned developmental activities consisting of significant infrastructure projects. Uncomfortable with India's desire to bring in large numbers of workers from India, the government initially tried to prove its own capacity by insisting that the planned Thimphu
-Phuntsholing
highway be done with its own workforce. However, the import of workers from India was inevitable; most Bhutanese worked as farmers and were unwilling to take up the major infrastructure projects. Thus, most development and infrastructure laborers were of Nepali origin.
The government traditionally attempted to limit immigration and restrict residence and employment of Nepalese to the southern region. Liberalization measures in the 1970s and 1980s encouraged intermarriage and provided increasing opportunities for public service. The government allowed more internal migration by Nepalese seeking better education and business opportunities. Large-scale assimilation
into Tibetan-Ngalop culture, however, has not occurred among the Nepalese as it did among other groups.
By the late 1980s, the Bhutanese government estimated 28 percent of the Bhutanese population were of Nepalese origin, though without distinguishing between earlier and later immigrants. Unofficial estimates of the ethnic Nepalese population ran as high as 30 to 40 percent, constituting a majority in the south. The number of legal permanent Nepalese residents in the late 1980s may have been as few as 15 percent of the total Nepalese population, however.
leaders responded with anti-government rallies demanding citizenship and attacks against government institutions.
In 1989, the Bhutanese government enacted reforms that directly impacted the Lhotshampa
. First, it elevated the status of the national dress code of the Driglam namzha
from recommended to mandatory. All citizens including the Lhotshampa were required to observe the Ngalop
dress code in public during business hours. This decree was resented by the Lhotshampa who voiced complaints about being forced to wear the clothing of the Ngalop majority. Second, the government removed Nepali
as a language of instruction in schools in favor of Dzongkha, the national language. This alienated the Lhotshampa, many of whom knew no Dzongkha at all.
In 1990, violent ethnic unrest and anti-government protests in southern Bhutan pressing for greater democracy and respect for minority rights. That year, the Bhutan Peoples' Party
, whose members are mostly Lhotshampa, began a campaign of violence against the Bhutanese government. In the wake of this unrest, thousands fled Bhutan. Many of them have either entered Nepal's seven refugee camps (on January 20, 2010, 85,544 refugees resided in the camps) or are working in India. According to U.S. State Department estimates, about 35 percent of the population of Bhutan is Lhotshampa if the displaced refugees are counted as citizens.
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
has an extensive history and has become one of the country's most contentious social, political, and legal issues. Since the twentieth century, Bhutanese immigration and citizenship laws have been promulgated as acts of the royal government, often by decree of the Druk Gyalpo on advice of the rest of government. Immigration policy and procedure are implemented
Administrative law
Administrative law is the body of law that governs the activities of administrative agencies of government. Government agency action can include rulemaking, adjudication, or the enforcement of a specific regulatory agenda. Administrative law is considered a branch of public law...
by the Lhengye Zhungtshog
Lhengye Zhungtshog
The Lhengye Zhungtshog is the highest executive body in Bhutan. It was created in 1999 by Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth King of Bhutan....
(Council of Ministers) Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs
Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs
The Bhutanese Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs is the government ministry within the Lhengye Zhungtshog which oversees law and order; the civil administration; immigration services; the issuance of citizenship documents, and other related documents; the...
, Department of Immigration. Bhutan's first modern laws regarding immigration and citizenship were the Bhutanese Citizenship Act 1958
Bhutanese Citizenship Act 1958
The Bhutanese Citizenship Act of 1958, officially the Nationality Law of Bhutan, 1958, is a decree by the Druk Gyalpo King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, recognizing the definition of a Bhutanese citizen...
and subsequent amendments in 1977. The 1958 Act was superseded by the Bhutanese Citizenship Act 1985, which was then supplemented by a further Immigration Act in 2007. The Constitution of 2008
Constitution of Bhutan
The Constitution of Bhutan was enacted July 18, 2008 by the Royal Government. The Constitution was thoroughly planned by several government officers and agencies over a period of almost seven years amid increasing democratic reforms in Bhutan...
included some changes in Bhutan's immigration laws, policy, and procedure, however prior law not inconsistent with the 2008 Constitution remained intact. Bhutan's modern citizenship laws and policies reinforce the institution of the Bhutanese monarchy, require familiarity and adherence to Ngalop
Ngalop
The Ngalop are people of Tibetan origin who migrated to Bhutan as early as the ninth century. For this reason, they are often referred to in literature as "Bhote"...
social norms, and reflect the social impact of the most recent immigrant groups.
Historically, there have been at least five distinct waves of human migration into Bhutan. The first record of human movement into Bhutan is the settlement of the region by Tibetan
Tibetan people
The Tibetan people are an ethnic group that is native to Tibet, which is mostly in the People's Republic of China. They number 5.4 million and are the 10th largest ethnic group in the country. Significant Tibetan minorities also live in India, Nepal, and Bhutan...
Buddhists
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, thoroughly established by AD 600. Before Tibetans settled Bhutan, the area was populated by the aboriginal Monpa, who practiced the shamanistic Bön religion. The second wave is represented by Bhutan's Sharchop population, who arrived from Burma or Assam sometime in the first millennium. The third wave of human migration was that of Nepalis and Indians as craftsmen, migrant workers, and slaves in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A fourth, much smaller wave of Tibetans came to Bhutan beginning in 1959, followed fifth by continued immigration from India and Nepal during Bhutan's development projects in the 1960s despite a government ban in 1958.
Immigration law and policy
Toward the end of the reign of the second King Jigme Wangchuck in the 1950s, the numbers of new immigrants had swelled causing tension between the King and the Dorji familyDorji family
The Dorji family of Bhutan has been a prominent and powerful political family in the kingdom since the 19th century. The family has produced Chief Ministers, Prime Ministers, governors, and even monarchs...
in the Bhutan House
Bhutan House
Bhutan House is an estate located in Kalimpong, West Bengal, India, owned by the Dorji family of Bhutan. The site is the traditional administrative Dzong for southern Bhutan, and also functioned as the administrative center for the whole of western Bhutan during the early years of consolidation...
. Amnesty was given through the Citizenship Act of 1958
Bhutanese Citizenship Act 1958
The Bhutanese Citizenship Act of 1958, officially the Nationality Law of Bhutan, 1958, is a decree by the Druk Gyalpo King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, recognizing the definition of a Bhutanese citizen...
– Bhutan's first modern laws regarding immigration and citizenship – for all those who could prove their presence in Bhutan for at least 10 years prior to 1958. On the other hand, the government also banned further immigration in 1958. The Act was pronounced by the Druk Gyalpo King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck
Jigme Dorji Wangchuck
Jigme Dorji Wangchuck was the Third Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan.He began to open Bhutan to the outside world, began modernization, and took the first steps toward democratization...
among a series of legal and social reforms in 1958 designed to begin modernizing Bhutan, including the abolition of slavery
Slavery in Bhutan
Slavery in Bhutan was a common legal economic and social institution until abolition in 1958. In historical records, unfree labourers in Bhutan were referred to as slaves, coolies, and serfs...
. The 1958 Act defined Bhutanese citizenship in patrilineal terms, and provided a basic framework for the process of naturalization
Naturalization
Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship and nationality by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth....
in Bhutan. Initially, applicants other than wives of Bhutanese citizens were required to show a ten year residency, five years of service to the government, and ownership of agricultural land. The 1958 Act originally defined no procedural framework for immigration. It also allowed the King to make ad hoc changes to the law, and left decisions largely to the discretion of the King and government officials.
In 1977, an amendment lengthened the residency requirement for naturalization to 20 years (15 years if in service to Bhutan), and the requirement of owning agricultural land was eschewed. Deprivation of citizenship as a punishment for sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
was expanded to associates and family relatives of seditious citizens. The amendment introduced other requirements, such as knowledge of Dzongkha and adherence to Ngalop customs
Driglam namzha
The Driglam Namzha is the official behaviour and dress code of the Kingdom of Bhutan. It governs how citizens should dress in public and how they should behave in formal settings. It also regulates a number of cultural assets such as art and architecture...
. The amendment also introduced a procedural framework for citizenship and naturalization; namely it codified procedural requirements for census registration and births abroad and designated the Ministry of Home Affairs
Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs
The Bhutanese Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs is the government ministry within the Lhengye Zhungtshog which oversees law and order; the civil administration; immigration services; the issuance of citizenship documents, and other related documents; the...
as the government agency
Government agency
A government or state agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of agency types...
to oversee immigration matters. The 1958 Act and 1977 amendments were superseded by the Bhutanese Citizenship Act 1985, though much of the procedural framework established in 1977 remains de jure in effect because it was not overridden.
Since the Bhutanese Citizenship Act of 1985 and subsequent Immigration Act of 2007, immigration policy and procedure have been implemented
Administrative law
Administrative law is the body of law that governs the activities of administrative agencies of government. Government agency action can include rulemaking, adjudication, or the enforcement of a specific regulatory agenda. Administrative law is considered a branch of public law...
by the Lhengye Zhungtshog
Lhengye Zhungtshog
The Lhengye Zhungtshog is the highest executive body in Bhutan. It was created in 1999 by Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth King of Bhutan....
(Council of Ministers), Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs
Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs
The Bhutanese Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs is the government ministry within the Lhengye Zhungtshog which oversees law and order; the civil administration; immigration services; the issuance of citizenship documents, and other related documents; the...
, Department of Immigration. Procedural safeguards for both naturalization and bona fide citizenship remained largely absent: applicants could be rejected for no reason at all, such decisions were final and binding, and even bona fide Bhutanese citizens faced deprivation of citizenship for sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
. Placement and maintaining one's placement in the national census registry is of central importance to legitimizing and proving one's citizenship. Placement by government workers into census registry categories, which ranged from "Genuine Bhutanese" to "Non-nationals: Migrants and Illegal Settlers," has been arbitrary, and could be arbitrarily changed. In some cases members of the same family have been, and still are, placed in different categories. Furthermore, only the entries recorded at the Dzongkhag
Districts of Bhutan
Bhutan comprises twenty districts .-Districts:-District Statistics:The results of the 2005 census appear below:...
(second highest) level are deemed valid; official local Dungkhag
Dungkhag
A dungkhag is a sub-district of a dzongkhag of Bhutan. The head of a dungkhag is a Dungpa...
, Gewog, Chewog
Chewogs of Bhutan
Chiwogs of Bhutan , also spelled chewog, refer to the 1,044 basic electoral precincts of Bhutan. Chiwogs are also former third-level administrative divisions of Bhutan, below Gewogs. Until 2009, they were the equivalent of municipalities or parishes, containing clusters of villages and hamlets...
or other civil records are disregarded. Under the latest Immigration Act of 2007, department-level immigration officers were given a mandate, and left wide discretion, to enter private premises; examine documents, persons, and things; seize items; and arrest persons. These officers are immunized under the 2007 Act for all wrongful acts and omissions committed in good faith in the discharge of their duty.
Bhutanese immigration policy, as reflected in its citizenship laws, can be described as highly assimilatory
Cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
, requiring familiarity with the dominant Ngalop
Ngalop
The Ngalop are people of Tibetan origin who migrated to Bhutan as early as the ninth century. For this reason, they are often referred to in literature as "Bhote"...
culture and allegiance to the Ngalop King of Bhutan. Its broader citizenship policy toward both immigrants and citizens alike can also be described as assimilatory, and on its face, a tool against dissent
Dissent
Dissent is a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or an entity...
.
History
Historically, there have been at least five distinct waves of human migration into Bhutan: two ancient and three since the 19th century. These migrant groups have, to varying degrees, shaped Bhutanese society, culture, and politics. They have also assimilatedCultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
into the dominant Tibetan-Ngalop culture to varying degrees, one of the foremost concerns of modern Bhutanese immigration policy.
Indigenous peoples and ancient migrations
Songtsen Gampo
Songtsän Gampo Songtsän Gampo Songtsän Gampo (Tibetan: སྲོང་བཙན་སྒམ་པོ་, Wylie: Srong-btsan sGam-po, 569–649?/605–649? was the founder of the Tibetan Empire (Tibetan: Bod; ), by tradition held to be the thirty-third ruler in his dynasty. In the Chinese records, his name is given as 'Sōngzàngānbù'...
, who ruled Tibet from AD 627–649, was responsible for the construction of Bhutan's oldest surviving Buddhist temples, the Kyichu Lhakhang
Kyichu Lhakhang
Kyichu Lhakhang, is an important Himalayan Buddhist temple situated in Lamgong Gewog of Paro District in Bhutan.-History:...
in Paro
Paro, Bhutan
-History:Rinpung Dzong a fortress-monastery overlooking the Paro valley has a long history. A monastery was first built on the site by Padma Sambhava at the beginning of the tenth century, but it wasn't until 1646 that Ngawang Namgyal built a larger monastery on the old foundations, and for...
and the Jambay Lhakhang
Jambay Lhakhang
Jambay Lhakhang, also spelled Jampey Lhakhang or Jampa, is located in Bumthang in Bhutan, and is said to be one of the 108 temples built by Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo in 659 AD on a single day, to pin down an ogress to earth forever.-Legend:...
in Bumthang
Bumthang District
Bumthang District is one of the 20 dzongkhag comprising Bhutan. It is the most historic dzongkhag if the number of ancient temples and sacred sites is counted...
.
The Sharchop
Sharchop
Sharchop is a collective term for the populations of mixed Southeast Asian and South Asian descent that live in the eastern districts of Bhutan.-Ethnicity:...
(meaning "easterner"), are thought to have migrated next from Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
or Burma during the past millennium. Sharchop is a collective term for the populations of mixed Southeast Asian and South Asian descent found in the eastern districts of Bhutan.
A few other indigenous groups, however, remained largely beyond the pale of Tibetan settlement and cultural influence. Among these are the Tibetan Buddhist Lhop
Lhop
The Lhop or Doya people are a little-known tribe of southwest Bhutan. The Bhutanese believe them to be the aboriginal inhabitants of the country, although this claim has not been substantiated by anthropologists. The Lhop are found in the low valleys of Samtse and near Phuntsholing in the Duars....
and Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
Toto
Toto tribe
The Toto is a primitive and isolated tribal group residing only in a small enclave called Totopara in the Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, India. Totopara is located at the foot of the Himalayas just to the south of the borderline between Bhutan and West Bengal...
peoples in the southwest.
In the seventeenth century, a Tibetan expatriate Drukpa monk, Ngawang Namgyal
Ngawang Namgyal
Ngawang Namgyal was a Tibetan Buddhist lama and the unifier of Bhutan as a nation state...
established a theocratic government independent of political influence from Tibet proper, and premodern Bhutan emerged. Ngawang Namgyal arrived in Bhutan in 1616 seeking refuge from the domination of the Gelug
Gelug
The Gelug or Gelug-pa , also known as the Yellow Hat sect, is a school of Buddhism founded by Je Tsongkhapa , a philosopher and Tibetan religious leader...
pa sect led by the Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...
in Lhasa. He established a new base in western Bhutan, founding Cheri Monastery
Cheri Monastery
Chagri Dorjeden Monastery also called "Cheri Monastery" is a Buddhist monastery in Bhutan established in 1620, by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. the founder of the Butanese state....
at the head of Thimphu valley. In 1627 he built Simtokha Dzong
Simtokha Dzong
Simtokha Dzong is a small dzong, located about 3 miles south of the Bhutanese capital of Thimphu. Built in 1629 by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, who unified Bhutan, the dzong is the first of its kind built in Bhutan. An important historical monument and former Buddhist monastery, today it houses one...
at the entrance to Thimphu valley. From this dzong he exerted control over traffic between the powerful Paro valley to the west and Trongsa valley to the east. In the 1634 Battle of Five Lamas
Battle of Five Lamas
The Battle of Five Lamas was a battle in 1634 in which Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal prevailed over the Tibetan and Bhutanese forces allied against him...
, Ngawang Namgyal prevailed over the Tibetan and Bhutanese forces allied against him and was the first to unite Bhutan into a single country. He took the title shabdrung
Shabdrung
Shabdrung , was a title used when referring to or addressing great lamas in Tibet, particularly those who held a hereditary lineage...
, becoming the temporal and spiritual leader of Bhutan under a dual system of government
Dual system of government
The Dual System of Government or Cho-sid-nyi is the traditional diarchal political system of Tibetan peoples whereby the Desi coexists with the spiritual authority of the realm, usually unified under a third single ruler. The actual distribution of power between institutions varied over time and...
. He promulgated a code of law, the Tsa Yig
Tsa Yig
The Tsa Yig is any monastic constitution or code of moral discipline based on codified Tibetan Buddhist precepts. Every Tibetan monastery and convent had its own Tsa Yig, and the variation in Tsa Yig content shows a degree of autonomy and internal democracy....
, and built a network of impregnable dzongs, a system that helped bring local lords under centralized control and strengthened the country against Tibetan invasions. Thus, more than 1,000 years of Tibetan influence and migration into the region brought about the formation of Bhutan.
Today, the term Ngalop
Ngalop
The Ngalop are people of Tibetan origin who migrated to Bhutan as early as the ninth century. For this reason, they are often referred to in literature as "Bhote"...
refers to those Bhutanese of ancient Tibetan descent who came to dominate Bhutan culturally and politically. The Ngalop are concentrated in the western and central valleys of Bhutan. They practice mostly Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
and speak Dzongkha. The Sharchop
Sharchop
Sharchop is a collective term for the populations of mixed Southeast Asian and South Asian descent that live in the eastern districts of Bhutan.-Ethnicity:...
comprise most of the population of eastern Bhutan. Although long the biggest ethnic group in Bhutan, the Sharchop have largely assimilated
Cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
into the Tibetan-Ngalop culture.
Immigration from Nepal and India
Since Bhutan emerged as an independent state, the most significant immigrant groups have been from Nepal and India. These people are collectively called LhotshampaLhotshampa
Lhotshampa, or Lhotsampa, means "southerners" in Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan. The term refers to the heterogeneous ethnic Nepalese population of Bhutan.-History:...
(meaning "southerner"), though a collective name may present an oversimplification because of the diversity within the group. The first reports of people of Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
ese origin in Bhutan was around 1620, when Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal commissioned Newar
Newar
The Newa , Newār or Newāl) are the indigenous people and the creators of the historical civilization of Nepal's Kathmandu Valley. The valley and surrounding territory have been known from ancient times as Nepal Mandala, its limits ever changing through history.Newas have lived in the Kathmandu...
craftsmen from the Kathmandu valley in Nepal to make a silver stupa
Stupa
A stupa is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the remains of Buddha, used by Buddhists as a place of worship....
to contain the ashes of his father Tempa Nima. The Newar are an ethnic group distinct from the Bahun
Bahun
Bahun is a colloquial Nepali term for a member of the Pahari or "hill" Brahmin caste, who are traditionally educators, scholars and priests of Hinduism. They are also known as Barmu in Newari. By tradition—and by civil law until 1962—they represented the highest of the four Hindu...
s, Tamang
Tamang
The Tamangs are the ancient and original inhabitants of the mountains and plains of the Himalayan regions of Nepal and India. Their ancient capital being Yambu - modern day Kathmandu. They have their own distinct culture, language and religion. Their ancestral domain is popularly known as...
s, Gurung
Gurung
The Gurung people, also called Tamu, are an ethnic group that migrated from Mongolia in the 6th century to the central region of Nepal. Gurungs, like other east Asian featured peoples of Nepal such as Sherpa, Tamang, Thakali, Magar, Manaaggi, Mustaaggi, and Walunggi, are the indigenous people of...
s, Rai
Rai
Rai may refer to:Acronyms*RAI, radioactive iodine, in the medical context of the treatment of thyroid problems*RAI, Radiotelevisione Italiana, Italian public broadcasting*Praia International Airport in Cape Verde, IATA airport code...
s that form the Lhotsampa community.
The next small groups of Nepalese emigrated primarily from eastern Nepal under British Indian auspices in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Members of many ethnic groups, including forefathers of Lhotshampa and others from Sikkim
Sikkim
Sikkim is a landlocked Indian state nestled in the Himalayan mountains...
, the Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
Duars
Duars
The Dooars or Duars are the floodplains and foothills of the eastern Himalayas in North-East India around Bhutan. Duar means door in Assamese, Nepali, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Magahi and Bengali languages, and the region forms the gateway to Bhutan from India. There were 18 passages or gateways through...
, and West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
, were brought into Bhutan as slaves (the institution was abolished in 1958). Seasonal migrants commonly worked in the Bhutan Duars
Duars
The Dooars or Duars are the floodplains and foothills of the eastern Himalayas in North-East India around Bhutan. Duar means door in Assamese, Nepali, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Magahi and Bengali languages, and the region forms the gateway to Bhutan from India. There were 18 passages or gateways through...
, and began to settle in the 1880s. During the late 19th Century, contractors working for the Bhutanese government began to organise the settlement of Nepali-speaking people in uninhabited areas of southern Bhutan in order to open those areas up for cultivation. The south soon became the country's main supplier of food. By 1930, according to British colonial officials, much of the south was under cultivation by a population of Nepali origin that amounted to some 60,000 people.
Settlement in Bhutan of large numbers of people from Nepal happened for the first time in the early 20th century. This settlement was encouraged by the Bhutan House
Bhutan House
Bhutan House is an estate located in Kalimpong, West Bengal, India, owned by the Dorji family of Bhutan. The site is the traditional administrative Dzong for southern Bhutan, and also functioned as the administrative center for the whole of western Bhutan during the early years of consolidation...
in Kalimpong for the purpose of collecting taxes for the government. In the 1930s, the Bhutan House
Bhutan House
Bhutan House is an estate located in Kalimpong, West Bengal, India, owned by the Dorji family of Bhutan. The site is the traditional administrative Dzong for southern Bhutan, and also functioned as the administrative center for the whole of western Bhutan during the early years of consolidation...
settled 5,000 families of Nepali workers in Tsirang alone. In the 1940s, the British Political Officer Sir Basil Gould
Basil Gould
Sir Basil John Gould, CMG, CIE was a British Political Officer in Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet from 1935 to 1945.Gould was known by the nickname "B.J.", and went to school at Winchester College and Oxford University. He joined the Indian Civil Service in 1907.Gould was a British Trade Agent in...
was quoted as saying that when he warned Sir Raja Sonam Topgay Dorji
Sonam Topgay Dorji
Sir Raja Sonam Topgay Dorji , also called Tobgay, was a member of the Dorji family and Bhutanese politician who served between 1917 and 1952 in the Royal Government under the First and Second Kings of Bhutan...
of Bhutan House
Bhutan House
Bhutan House is an estate located in Kalimpong, West Bengal, India, owned by the Dorji family of Bhutan. The site is the traditional administrative Dzong for southern Bhutan, and also functioned as the administrative center for the whole of western Bhutan during the early years of consolidation...
of the potential danger of allowing so many ethnic Nepalese to settle in southern Bhutan, he replied that "since they were not registered subjects they could be evicted whenever the need arose."
Furthermore, Lhotshampa were forbidden from settling north of the subtropical foothills. The beginning of Nepalese immigration largely coincided with Bhutan's political development: in 1885, Druk Gyalpo Ugyen Wangchuck
Ugyen Wangchuck
Gongsa Ugyen Wangchuck was the first King of Bhutan from 1907 to 1926.He was born in 1862 to Jigme Namgyal, penlop of Trongsa and Ashi Pema Choki. He succeeded his father as Penlop of Trongsa...
consolidated power after a period of civil unrest and cultivated closer ties with the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. In 1910, the government of Bhutan signed a treaty with the British in India, granting them control over Bhutan's foreign relations.
Tibetan refugees in Bhutan (1959)
In 1959, Bhutan granted asylum to several thousand refugees after the Chinese took control of Tibet. The Tibetan refugees were fleeing famine, uprising, suppression, and persecution during Chinese ChairmanChairman of the Communist Party of China
The Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was the head of the Communist Party of China . In 1982, it was succeeded by the General Secretary of the Central Committee.-History and functions:...
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
's Great Leap Forward
Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward of the People's Republic of China was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China , reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern...
. Chinese demographers have estimated that 90,000 Tibetans became refugees
Tibetan diaspora
The Tibetan diaspora is a term used to refer to the communities of Tibetan people living outside Tibet. Tibetan emigration happened in two waves: one in 1959 following the 14th Dalai Lama's self-exile in India, and the other in the 1980s when Tibet was opened to trade and tourism. The third wave...
. The people of Bhutan deeply sympathized with the refugees and extended assistance as much as possible within their capacity. Those Tibetan refugees renounced the right to return to Tibet were granted Bhutanese citizenship, however the majority told Bhutanese authorities they would like to return to Tibet one day. As a result, they remained refugees.
In 1981, many Tibetan refugees in Bhutan chose to permanently resettle in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and they were allowed to do so. About half of the initial Tibetan refugees chose to remain in Bhutan and continued to live in these in seven settlements located across Bhutan. The seven Tibetan settlements in Bhutan are: Khunpheling (village of Karche), Namling (village of Badgarnang), Yidmonling (village of Lhongtso), Raptenling, Kunga Rabtenling, Kelsangling, and Kungaling. Most of settlements have a small monastery, a primary school, and a small heath clinic.
In 1998, there were about 1,500 Tibetans living in Bhutan, and in 2007 there were about 1,883.
Life remains relatively difficult for Tibetan refugees in Bhutan. Without a security clearance — something they claim is virtually impossible to obtain — Tibetans cannot get government jobs, enrol their children in higher education or obtain licenses to run private business. Many get around that rule by renting shop licenses off native Bhutanese, but it leaves them in an uncomfortable limbo.
Immigration from Nepal and India (1959–present)
Immigrants from Nepal and India continued to enter Bhutan during the 1960s when Bhutan's first modern 5-year plans began. Like the prior Nepalese immigrants, they came to be called LhotshampaLhotshampa
Lhotshampa, or Lhotsampa, means "southerners" in Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan. The term refers to the heterogeneous ethnic Nepalese population of Bhutan.-History:...
, blurring the line between citizens, legal residents, and persons illegally present.
From 1961 onward, with India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n support, the government began planned developmental activities consisting of significant infrastructure projects. Uncomfortable with India's desire to bring in large numbers of workers from India, the government initially tried to prove its own capacity by insisting that the planned Thimphu
Thimphu
Thimphu also spelt Thimpu, is the capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's dzongkhags, the Thimphu District. The city became the capital of Bhutan in 1961...
-Phuntsholing
Phuntsholing
Phuentsholing is a border town in southern Bhutan, and is the administrative seat of Chukha District. The town occupies parts of both Phuentsholing Gewog and Sampheling Gewog. Phuentsholing lies opposite the Indian town of Jaigaon, and cross-border trade has resulted in a thriving local economy...
highway be done with its own workforce. However, the import of workers from India was inevitable; most Bhutanese worked as farmers and were unwilling to take up the major infrastructure projects. Thus, most development and infrastructure laborers were of Nepali origin.
The government traditionally attempted to limit immigration and restrict residence and employment of Nepalese to the southern region. Liberalization measures in the 1970s and 1980s encouraged intermarriage and provided increasing opportunities for public service. The government allowed more internal migration by Nepalese seeking better education and business opportunities. Large-scale assimilation
Cultural assimilation
Cultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
into Tibetan-Ngalop culture, however, has not occurred among the Nepalese as it did among other groups.
By the late 1980s, the Bhutanese government estimated 28 percent of the Bhutanese population were of Nepalese origin, though without distinguishing between earlier and later immigrants. Unofficial estimates of the ethnic Nepalese population ran as high as 30 to 40 percent, constituting a majority in the south. The number of legal permanent Nepalese residents in the late 1980s may have been as few as 15 percent of the total Nepalese population, however.
Bhutanese refugees
In 1988, the government census led to the branding of many ethnic Nepalis as illegal immigrants. Local LhotshampaLhotshampa
Lhotshampa, or Lhotsampa, means "southerners" in Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan. The term refers to the heterogeneous ethnic Nepalese population of Bhutan.-History:...
leaders responded with anti-government rallies demanding citizenship and attacks against government institutions.
In 1989, the Bhutanese government enacted reforms that directly impacted the Lhotshampa
Lhotshampa
Lhotshampa, or Lhotsampa, means "southerners" in Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan. The term refers to the heterogeneous ethnic Nepalese population of Bhutan.-History:...
. First, it elevated the status of the national dress code of the Driglam namzha
Driglam namzha
The Driglam Namzha is the official behaviour and dress code of the Kingdom of Bhutan. It governs how citizens should dress in public and how they should behave in formal settings. It also regulates a number of cultural assets such as art and architecture...
from recommended to mandatory. All citizens including the Lhotshampa were required to observe the Ngalop
Ngalop
The Ngalop are people of Tibetan origin who migrated to Bhutan as early as the ninth century. For this reason, they are often referred to in literature as "Bhote"...
dress code in public during business hours. This decree was resented by the Lhotshampa who voiced complaints about being forced to wear the clothing of the Ngalop majority. Second, the government removed Nepali
Nepali language
Nepali or Nepalese is a language in the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family.It is the official language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal and is also spoken in Bhutan, parts of India and parts of Myanmar...
as a language of instruction in schools in favor of Dzongkha, the national language. This alienated the Lhotshampa, many of whom knew no Dzongkha at all.
In 1990, violent ethnic unrest and anti-government protests in southern Bhutan pressing for greater democracy and respect for minority rights. That year, the Bhutan Peoples' Party
Bhutan Peoples' Party
The Bhutan Peoples' Party is a democratic socialist party in Bhutan, currently working in exile in Nepal. Founded on June 2, 1990 in West Bengal, it was the first political party in Bhutan...
, whose members are mostly Lhotshampa, began a campaign of violence against the Bhutanese government. In the wake of this unrest, thousands fled Bhutan. Many of them have either entered Nepal's seven refugee camps (on January 20, 2010, 85,544 refugees resided in the camps) or are working in India. According to U.S. State Department estimates, about 35 percent of the population of Bhutan is Lhotshampa if the displaced refugees are counted as citizens.
See also
- Demographics of BhutanDemographics of BhutanThis article is about the demographic features of the population of Bhutan, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population....
- Monpa people
- NgalopNgalopThe Ngalop are people of Tibetan origin who migrated to Bhutan as early as the ninth century. For this reason, they are often referred to in literature as "Bhote"...
- SharchopSharchopSharchop is a collective term for the populations of mixed Southeast Asian and South Asian descent that live in the eastern districts of Bhutan.-Ethnicity:...
- LhotshampaLhotshampaLhotshampa, or Lhotsampa, means "southerners" in Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan. The term refers to the heterogeneous ethnic Nepalese population of Bhutan.-History:...
- Tibetan diasporaTibetan diasporaThe Tibetan diaspora is a term used to refer to the communities of Tibetan people living outside Tibet. Tibetan emigration happened in two waves: one in 1959 following the 14th Dalai Lama's self-exile in India, and the other in the 1980s when Tibet was opened to trade and tourism. The third wave...
- Slavery in BhutanSlavery in BhutanSlavery in Bhutan was a common legal economic and social institution until abolition in 1958. In historical records, unfree labourers in Bhutan were referred to as slaves, coolies, and serfs...
- Bhutanese refugees
- Politics of BhutanPolitics of BhutanThe Government of Bhutan is a constitutional monarchy; between 1907 and the 1950s however, Bhutan was an absolute monarchy. The peaceful march to democracy has been a steady one. The King of Bhutan is head of state. Executive power is exercised by the Lhengye Zhungtshog, or council of ministers,...
- Bhutanese Citizenship Act 1985
- Cultural assimilationCultural assimilationCultural assimilation is a socio-political response to demographic multi-ethnicity that supports or promotes the assimilation of ethnic minorities into the dominant culture. The term assimilation is often used with regard to immigrants and various ethnic groups who have settled in a new land. New...
- Demographic threat