What Will Bhutan’s Mindfulness City Mean for the Lhotshampa Community Displaced From the Region?

On a cold, wintry afternoon in January 1992, Krishna Bir Tamang, his father Arjun Tamang, and their dog Pangre huddled together in the last seat of an overcrowded bus in Jaigaon, the last Indian town on the Indo-Bhutan border. “There were a few other buses along with ours, filled with people from different parts of Bhutan, most of whom looked tired and uncertain about where they were headed. We had one thing in common — everyone was Lhotshampa,” Krishna Bir recalls. Lhotshampa, meaning “southerner” in Dzongkha, Bhutan’s national language, refers to the community residing in the country’s southern lowlands. 

“Twenty-four hours later, the Indian bus dropped us at the banks of the Mai River in Nepal, where a makeshift campsite made of colorful plastic tarpaulins had been set up,” Krishna Bir adds. A few months later, when the living conditions worsened and people started dying, the community shifted to seven different camps in the Jhapa district of Nepal. Krishna Bir and his family moved to the Beldangi refugee camp, which is now one of the largest remaining camps for Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. 

Originally from Kahrgaon, a village near Gelephu, Bhutan, Krishna Bir, now 54, was just 22 when he left his homeland. Thirty-two years after his displacement, he remains hopeful for repatriation. “My only life aspiration is to return to Bhutan. I believe our King will call us back to spend our final days there,” he says.

Tamang’s repatriation hopes were rekindled when Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck announced ambitious plans for a new “mindfulness city” in Gelephu, the town near his village. In his National Day address on December 17, 2023, the King spoke about creating opportunities for Bhutanese living abroad in the megacity at Gelephu. “Is he also considering the last few remaining Lhotshampas still living in the two camps, Pathri and Beldangi, in Nepal — those who are waiting for repatriation?” Tamang asks, his voice a mix of hope and sadness.

The upcoming Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) is a major project designed to position Bhutan as a bridge connecting South Asia with Southeast Asia. While Bhutan’s King invites the world to invest in this ambitious city — and attempts to break the “Shangri-La” image of the landlocked, carbon-negative country — only time will tell if this also signals an invitation to the 6,300 remaining Lhotshampas in the camp in Nepal and the 113,000-strong Lhotshampa diaspora. The displaced community, especially those living in exile for decades, feels anxious and left out as their former home undergoes rapid development. This mega project symbolizes progress and opportunity, yet for the Lhotshampas, it heightens their longing for repatriation and the fear of being permanently excluded from Bhutan’s future.

Why Gelephu

“As a young man, I used to walk to Gelephu from my village. I’m not sure where exactly they plan to build the megacity,” Krishnabir shares. “I haven’t seen the site map.”

The GMC is being built by Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group in Gelephu town situated in southern Bhutan near the India -Bhutan border. It will span over 1000 square kilometers (620 square miles) and include infrastructure for education, healthcare, green technologies, and sustainable urban living. Gelephu, strategically located on the border with Assam, India, has historically served as an important trade route and transit point between the Indian plains and Bhutanese highlands. Its significance as a trading post and its fertile plains, in contrast to the mountainous regions of Bhutan, make it an ideal location for the project.

Meanwhile, Tamang, who lives in Beldangi Camp 2 with his wife, son, and daughter-in-law, reflects on his journey: “We are three generations of Lhotshampas living in exile. I fled Bhutan with my father. Here in the camp, I met my wife, got married, and my son was born here. Now, he’s raising his own family in exile.” 

The 54-year-old supports his family by running a small grocery shop with his wife Manmaya from his verandah, while his son works as a daily wage laborer, though work is scarce. 

 “We are living hand to mouth,” he says, “sometimes, we have to skip meals.” Most people in the camp are unemployed, facing severe economic challenges as there are limited job opportunities for refugees in Nepal. A few manage to find work as daily wage laborers, but many who are unable to work depend on financial support from relatives who have resettled abroad. The situation worsened after 2017 when the UNHCR scaled back its support following the end of the resettlement program, leaving the camp residents even more vulnerable.

Looking back on his life in Bhutan, Tamang recalls the large farm and the cattle he owned as the son of the gaon buda (village chief). “We had a farm, grew crops, and raised animals. But everything changed for us in the late 1980s,” he recalls. 

The Exodus

Tamang was among the over 100,000 Lhotshampas expelled from Bhutan as a part of the ethnic cleansing during this period. Driven by a fear that the growing ethnic Nepali population posed a demographic and cultural threat, the Bhutanese government enacted discriminatory citizenship laws. These laws revoked the citizenship of many Lhotshampas, stripping nearly one-sixth of the population of their rights and paving the way for their forced expulsion.

We still hold on to the hope that we might return to Bhutan and perhaps see Gelephu Mindfulness City at least once in our lifetime.

Krishna Bir Tamang

DB Subba, a fellow camp resident and former camp secretary gathered many older and middle-aged Lhotshampa men to share with Inkstick their fond memories of their hometown, Gelephu. “Around 40% of the Beldangi camp residents are from Gelephu,” says 70-year-old Tankanath Bhujel. “A megacity in my hometown sounds very exciting. I hope I will get a chance to visit it someday,” Bhujel says with a smile. Subba notes that most people in the camp are aware of the upcoming project and see it as a new opportunity to engage the Bhutanese government in discussions about repatriation, which has otherwise been kept on a side burner. They have sent letters to the Prime Minister’s Office in Bhutan and in India, and have advocated for years to the Nepali government and the UNHCR for their return.

The Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this article on the state of the Lhotshampa population, the refugees, or their implication in the Gelephu project.

Lotshampa Diaspora

DJ Khaling resettled through the UNHCR’s third-country program two decades ago and is now an American citizen and successful businessman. In a phone interview, he enthusiastically emphasized the eagerness of resettled Lhotshampas to contribute to the development of their homeland. “We are particularly interested in the tourism sector of the new Gelephu Mindfulness City. Drawing inspiration from models like Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge in Tennessee, we believe Gelephu can become a top tourist destination, with attractions such as adventure parks, skylifts, and cultural experiences,” Khaling says. He also highlighted their desire to offer expertise in areas like IT, education, and healthcare, along with support for small businesses like hotels and restaurants to boost Bhutan’s economy.

The resettled Lhotshampas are a community of Bhutanese refugees who, after years of unsuccessful efforts to return to Bhutan, were offered a humanitarian alternative by the UNHCR through the third-country resettlement program in 2007. This initiative aimed to provide better opportunities for Bhutanese refugees by resettling them in countries willing to accept them. By 2019, more than 113,500 refugees had been resettled in eight countries, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, significantly reducing the refugee population in Nepal’s camps, leaving only two camps out of the original seven.

“Now, the diaspora consists of about 96,000 resettled Bhutanese in the US, with an additional 20,000 in Canada, Australia, and Europe,” explains Khaling. He emphasizes that this community has successfully integrated into their new homelands and includes professionals, academics, and business leaders, many of whom are eager to contribute to Bhutan’s future development.

In the refugee camp, Tamang reflects on how both he and his wife were adamantly opposed to the third-country resettlement program, as their sole aspiration has always been repatriation to Bhutan. “We still hold on to the hope that we might return to Bhutan and perhaps see Gelephu Mindfulness City at least once in our lifetime,” he shares.

Tamang, who also serves as the coordinator of the National Reconciliation Committee, says there are currently 2,340 Lhotshampas in the camps who wish to be repatriated to Bhutan. The Committee is in correspondence with UNHCR in Nepal, advocating for international support to help facilitate their repatriation.

DNS Dhakal, senior fellow at Duke Center for International Development, argues that the refugee struggle can be solved through talks between leaders sitting in Kathmandu and Thimphu. And advocates for a multi-step process to reintegrate the Lhotshampa diaspora. 

The journey remains long and uncertain for Tamang and others in the camp who seek repatriation, leaving them unsure if they will have the chance to partake in Bhutan’s new developments. But for now, the Bhutanese government seems more focused on constructing a shiny new future than healing the rifts of the past.

Editor’s note: the article has been updated lightly since publication on Nov. 20, 2024.