How To Move To Bhutan

[Honorato Overmyer]

Immigrationto 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 The 1958 Act was superseded by the Bhutanese Citizenship Act 1985, which was then supplemented by a further Immigration Act in 2007.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. Before Tibetans settled in Bhutan, the area was populated by aboriginal people referred to as "Monpa". The first record of human movement into Bhutan is the settlement of the region by Tibetan Buddhists, who were thoroughly established by 600 CE. Their current autonym is "Ngalop".[1]

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.[4]

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.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10] In some cases members of the same family have been, and still are, placed in different categories.[10] 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.[7] 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.[8] These officers are immunized under the 2007 Act for all wrongful acts and omissions committed in good faith in the discharge of their duty.[8]

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.

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 assimilated into the dominant Tibetan-Ngalop culture to varying degrees, one of the foremost concerns of modern Bhutanese immigration policy.

The Sharchop (meaning "easterner"), are thought to have migrated next from Assam or Burma during the past millennium.[2] 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 people in the southwest.[2] In the north the Tephoos, who immigrated from what is now known as India are a distinct community of the Hindu Koches and are found in the north of Bhutan.[12][13] The Oraon are a Dravidian language speaking tribal group found in southwestern Bhutan.[14]

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 Gelugpa 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.[15] 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.[2]

Since Bhutan emerged as an independent state, the most significant immigrant groups have been from Nepal and India. These people are collectively called Lhotshampa (meaning "southerner"), though a collective name may present an oversimplification because of the diversity within the group. The first reports of people of Nepalese 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 Bahuns, Tamangs, Gurungs, Rais that form the Lhotsampa community.[16]

The next small groups of Nepalese emigrated primarily from eastern Nepal under British Indian auspices in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.[2][3] Members of many ethnic groups, including forefathers of Lhotshampa[4] and others from Sikkim, the Assam Duars, and West Bengal, were brought into Bhutan as slaves (the institution was abolished in 1958).[17][18][19] Seasonal migrants commonly worked in the Bhutan Duars, and began to settle in the 1880s.[20] 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.[21] 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.[21]

In 1959, Bhutan granted asylum to several thousand refugees after the Chinese took control of Tibet.[6] The Tibetan refugees were fleeing famine, uprising, suppression, and persecution during Chinese Chairman Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward. Chinese demographers have estimated that 90,000 Tibetans became refugees.[24] The people of Bhutan deeply sympathized with the refugees and extended assistance as much as possible within their capacity.[25] 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.[26]

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.[25] Most of settlements have a small monastery, a primary school, and a small heath clinic.[25]

3a8082e126