HHR_Hindus_in_South_Asia_2013

construction of non-Buddhist places of worship is still largely restricted, particularly in
rural areas.
Approximately 108,000 Lhotshampa refugees were housed in UNHCR administered
camps in Nepal until 2007, when the “resettlement movement” first began. As of
September 2013, more than 82,000 refugees were resettled in third countries,
including over 69,000 in the U.S.
The resettled Bhutanese Hindu community in the U.S. has reported facing a number
of challenges, including a high incidence of mental illness and suicide, and difficulty
retaining their cultural and religious traditions. In 2012, two Bhutanese Hindu
refugees in Cleveland, Ohio reportedly committed suicide after being deceptively
converted to Christianity.
HAF Recommendations:
1) The Bhutanese government should remove or revise any preferential language for
Buddhism in Bhutan’s constitution and legal framework and the government should
treat all religions equitably. Moreover, non-Buddhist communities should be
accorded the right to build new places of worship and register religious organizations
free of cumbersome and arbitrary restrictions.
2) Continued attempts to forcibly homogenize the cultural identity of the country,
including limiting minority linguistic rights, must end, thereby allowing all ethnoreligious
minorities to assert their independent identities.
3) HAF urges Bhutan to accept and repatriate all those refugees remaining in the
camps or resettled elsewhere, who wish to return and are able to prove their
nationality through reasonable means, while Nepal should make a similar offer to
integrate some refugees. Moreover, those Bhutanese Hindus living in India should
be accorded official refugee status and provided with basic government assistance.
4) International donors, the United Nations, India, China, and the United States should
put pressure on Bhutan to accept the return of exiled ethnic Nepali Hindus and
ensure that those Lhotshampas currently living in Bhutan enjoy equal protection
under the law.
5) The resettled refugee population, particularly in the U.S., should be given greater
support in acclimating to their new environment, with increased focus on addressing
their mental health needs, overcoming linguistic barriers, and helping retain their
cultural traditions and religion.
Executive Summary viii © Hindu American Foundation 2014