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ctober in Philadelphia was unseasonably

warm in 2011, but the wind was still cold

as Parangkush “PK” Subedi and Ashok Rai

waited outside their car in the Philadelphia

International Airport parking lot. Both men

work for the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society of Pennsylvania (HIAS

PA), as a Resettlement Case Manager and translator respectively.

HIAS PA is a non-profit organization whose roots began in 1882

Philadelphia, like many American

cities, is experiencing an influx

of Bhutanese refugees. In 2008,

it is estimated that only 150

Bhutanese refugees were living in

the United States. A year later,

over 22,000 had been moved to

the U.S. through an internationally

coordinated resettlement program.

Faced with growing anti-immigrant

sentiment, high unemployment,

and low literacy rates, they are

struggling to navigate their way

to the American Dream.

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with the founding of an association in Philadelphia whose mission

it was to assist the influx of Eastern European Jews that had fled

to the United States. Over the years, their responsibilities have

expanded and now, among other things, they are one of the three

organizations in Philadelphia working with the State Department

to resettle the diverse population of refugees who are welcomed

into the United States every year.

Subedi looked down at his cell phone then caught sight of

an incoming van. Suddenly the tedium that had dominated the

last hour of waiting had been broken. The van pulled into a

nearby empty space and the black vacuum that existed before was

transformed into a procession of human bodies scurrying back and

forth with machine precision. They were unloading bags stamped

with the blue and white logo of the International Organization

for Migration (IOM) and herding a group of tired, withdrawn

Binod (left) and Ajay (right), grandchildren of Padam

and Madhu Gurung

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people out of the van. Subedi approached

a family of three as they emerged. He

was going to be their final guide in what

was an almost two day journey from the

refugee camp in Nepal, where they had

been staying for the past twenty years, to

their new home in Philadelphia.

This was a life changing moment for

the Gurung family, who had just taken

their first steps in this new, strange place,

but this was not a new process for the

IOM transportation team. Over 30,000

Bhutanese refugees have already been

resettled in the United States and another

30,000 are waiting to come. Despite

being one of the largest resettlement

operations ever undertaken by the United

Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

(UNHCR), the plight of the over 100,000

displaced people from Bhutan has largely

been overlooked by the general public.

The refugees’ stories of displacement

start in 1865 when peasant farmers from

Nepal began to migrate to southern

Bhutan after the Anglo-Bhutanese War.

Over time, generations of these ethnically

diverse Nepali people cleared land and

created agrarian communities that made

up Bhutan’s main food

producing districts.

These people have

become known as

Lhotshampa (southern

people) or “Nepali

Bhutanese,” and in

the mid twentieth century they made up

one of the four main ethnic groups in

Bhutan. The other three ethnic groups

are the Ngalong in the west, the “central

Bhutanese”, and the Sharchop in the

east. The Bhutanese commonly

distinguish between these Buddhist

“Drukpas” in the north and the Nepali

speaking, Hindu southerners.

During the 1950s, what is known today

as Bhutan was brought together in a single

administrative system under King Jigme

Dorji Wangchuck. The King and his Prime

Minister undertook a number of nation

building and infrastructure projects,

which sought to integrate the economy

and population of southern Bhutan with

the rest of the country. In the mid-1980s,

suspicion fueled by the ethnic Nepali

democratic movements in the Darjeeling

district of West Bengal, Sikkim, and

Over 30,000 Bhutanese refugees have already been resettled in the United States and another 30,000 are waiting to come

Nepal proper halted the integration of

southern Bhutan.

In response to growing uneasiness

over the increasing influence of the

south, Bhutan began implementing new

policies that would later be presented

as defensive measures meant to protect

Bhutanese culture from destructive

outside influences. In practice, these new

policies isolated and disenfranchised the

Lhotshampa minority, and legislated a

preference towards the Drukpa culture as

more “authentically” Bhutanese. All new

buildings had to be built in the Buddhist,

Drukpa style, the Nepali language was

removed from school curricula and all

government documents, Dzongkha was

made the national language, and the

wearing of Drukpa traditional clothing

was made mandatory for all citizens.

In 1988, the government began

conducting an annual census in the

south that was largely viewed by the

Lhotshampas as a way to decrease the

ethnic Nepali population. In order to be

deemed a citizen, each adult member of

a household was required to present him

or herself to a census board and present

evidence to convince

the officials of their

origins. In order to

affirm citizenship

one had to produce

a 1958 (the year all

Lhotshampas were

granted citizenship) tax receipt paid on

land registered in their or an ancestor’s

name, and provide proof that both of his

or her parents were Bhutanese citizens.

A Certificate of Origin had to be produced

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by individuals who had moved within the country to another home

or district after 1958, which applied to all women who had moved

from their family’s home to their husband’s home.

Over time, the process of being granted a Certificate of Origin

from the district headquarters became nearly impossible and the

threshold of citizenship was raised higher and higher. In response,

Lhotshampa activists organized mass public demonstrations in

September and October of 1990 calling for the expansion of civil

and cultural rights. In the aftermath of the wave of political

dissidence, the Bhutanese government enacted a form of martial

law in the south. As tensions escalated, more Lhotshampas fled

the country fearing for their lives. Rumors and reports of night

raids, unprovoked arrests, and the rape of women by soldiers

fueled a mass exodus over the Indian border, where they were

transported to Nepal.

In September 1991, the United Nations High Commissioner

for Refugees (UNHCR) assumed responsibility for the relief efforts

underway in Nepal. While their borders were being flooded with

displaced people, Nepalese politicians committed to meeting with

Bhutanese officials and often declared that the refugees would be

returned to Bhutan “with honor and dignity.”

After nearly twenty years of stagnant talks and failed

repatriation attempts, the IOM in partnership with UNHCR

has begun a process of third country resettlement. Of the 107,000

Bhutanese refugees, the United States has agreed to resettle

60,000, and Australia, Canada, Norway, Netherlands and Denmark

have offered to resettle 10,000 each. Third country resettlement

is the last resort of the UNHCR. Less than one percent of the

identified ten and a half million refugees worldwide are eligible

for resettlement. Only the most desperate cases are willing to

Less than one percent of the identified ten and a half million refugees worldwide are eligible for resettlement.

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give up the hope of ever returning home, learn a new language,

and assimilate into a new culture. After seeing an entire

generation grow up in the confines of a refugee camp, many

Bhutanese refugees leapt at the chance to resettle because they

saw it as their only opportunity.

The Gurung family came to America because after 20 years in

Nepal, living off of UNHCR rations, they could no longer envision

a future in which their children could succeed if they stayed. In

2010, after overcoming a hesitance to leave everything that they

knew behind, they registered for resettlement. A year later, Padam,

Madhu, and their daughter Om took their first flight to JFK

airport, rode in an IOM van to Philadelphia, and then were finally

greeted by PK Subedi and Ashok Rai, who would show them to

their apartment in South Philadelphia.

Padam and Madhu are both over seventy years old. They hold

no hope of ever learning English or integrating into American

society. They agreed to fly across the world to a completely alien

place in order to provide their children and grandchildren with

opportunities they never would have had otherwise.

Here in America, meeting their basic needs of food, safety,

shelter, and medical care is much easier than in Nepal, but not

everything is perfect. Many of the community’s older residents

rarely go outside for fear of getting lost in the maze of city streets

and row houses. Frightened by their new surroundings and

frequently traumatized by past events, a growing xenophobic

sentiment expressed by the established communities that the

refugees are often resettled into only propagates fear and distrust

within the refugee population.

HIAS and organizations like it offer “Good Neighbor” and

“American Friend” programs, in which a refugee family is paired

with a volunteer, but simply not enough people have stepped up

to fill the gaps that the government programs leave. Volunteers

are needed to tutor English, teach budgeting and comparison-

shopping, and walk around the neighborhood with recent arrivals.

More than anything, refugees like Padam, Madhu, and Om need

American volunteers to develop relationships with and act as

liaisons between them and the new world that they must somehow

learn to navigate through.

Seesome (left) and Mani (right), grandchild and daughter-in-law of Padam and Madhu in their home in South Philadelphia

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Cover Photograph: Madhu Gurung as she arrives in Philadelphia on October 25th, 2011

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

HEBREW IMMIGRANT AID SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA (HIAS PA)Thank you to HIAS PA and especially Marina Merlin for your supportwww.hiaspa.org

PARANGKUSH SUBEDIFor introducing me to this topic and entertaining my endless questions

ASHOK RAIFor giving up his weekends to translate for me

THE GURUNG FAMILYFor letting me into their lives

DREXEL UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENTFor your encouragement and advice

THE SWIFT FUND GRANT FOUNDATIONFor providing much appreciated assistance

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES IN THE PHILADELPHIA AREA PLEASE VISIT:www.hiaspa.orgwww.nscphila.org

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