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Mixed-Method Research on Bhutanese
GURUNG, ANUJ, Ph. D., August 2019 POLITICAL SCIENCE ANATOMY OF RESETTLEMENT: MIXED-METHOD RESEARCH ON BHUTANESE REFUGEES (410 PP.) Dissertation Advisor: Landon E. Hancock This dissertation is a much-needed study of how resettlement impacts refugees. I found the ‘solution’ of resettlement to be promising for some refugees yet restrictive for others. Based on my analysis, Bhutanese refugees interpret their past and present differently in negotiating their place and identity in resettlement. In Akron, many have found stable jobs, started businesses, and are pursuing higher education aspirations. Opportunities in resettlement and their positive self-perception allows these individuals to expand and ‘own’ their new revised identities (e.g. Bhutanese-Nepali), in contrast to the primary socialized identity preferences (i.e. the Bhutanese label) of refugees who find themselves marginalized and dependent in their new environment. At a broader level, I have found the US resettlement policy to be exclusively invested in economic output of refugees with little regard for their socio-cultural adaptation. Given the diversity of refugee experiences and their reasons behind ‘choosing’ resettlement, resettlement policy merits further critical examination and likely a structural revision. Scholars of refugee and immigrant behavior, as well as interested policy makers will find this work highly pertinent. In this study, I used ethnographic research—interviews and field observations—centered on Bhutanese refugees; I also employed a limited statistical examination of refugee migration patterns in the US. i ANATOMY OF RESETTLEMENT: MIXED-METHOD RESEARCH ON BHUTANESE REFUGEES A dissertation submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Anuj Gurung August 2019 © Copyright All rights reserved Except for previously published materials ii Dissertation written by Anuj Gurung B.A. -
Religion, Refugees, and Diaspora Communities in the United States May 2016 WORLD FAITHS DEVELOPMENT DIALOGUE DEVELOPMENT FAITHS WORLD
Religion, Refugees, and Diaspora Communities in the United States May 2016 WORLD FAITHS DEVELOPMENT DIALOGUE DEVELOPMENT FAITHS WORLD In partnership with the Pluralism Project at Harvard University Acknowledgments everal people from both the World Faiths Development Dialogue (WFDD) and the Pluralism Project at Harvard University contributed to this study at various stages. S Katherine Marshall, executive director of WFDD, and Dr. Diana Eck, director of the Pluralism Project, served as the senior faculty advisors for the study. Crystal Corman, WFDD program manager, coordinated partnership with the Pluralism Project, edited this report, and contributed to project design and direction. WFDD research assistant Sarah Radomsky, a student at Georgetown University, conducted background research, drafting the introduction and literature review of this report. The pilot study field research was overseen by the Pluralism Project at Harvard University and was the result of collaboration between scholars and students from several institutions. In Utica, Dr. S. Brent Plate served as the lead researcher and senior advisor for a research team of three students, one graduate, and two undergraduate: Retika Rajbhandari, Shannon Boley, and Emmett Potts, respectively. Anna Lee White, a recent grad- uate of Mount Holyoke College, conducted the majority of the field research in Manchester and Nashua, New Hampshire. Pluralism Project research associate Mary Kate Long provided additional research assistance, including field research in Massachusetts and initial data analysis. Pluralism Project research associate Margaret Krueger assisted with data compilation on reli- gious centers.1 Pluralism Project research director Elinor Pierce provided research guidelines; Pluralism Project assistant director Whittney Barth facilitated this pilot study and contributed to the writing of this report. -
The Kingdom of Bhutan
Updated March 23, 2020 The Kingdom of Bhutan Background were best served by elected leaders. The first election went The Kingdom of Bhutan, also known as the Land of the smoothly in 2008, and the second, in 2013, brought a Thunder Dragon, is a small, landlocked Himalayan country situated between India and China. The mountainous Figure 1.Bhutan in Brief kingdom is about half the size of Indiana, with an estimated population of 782,000, approximately 115,000 of them in and around the capital city, Thimphu. Bhutan’s economy has grown primarily as a result of hydropower, agriculture, and forestry development. The United States has no significant trade relations with Bhutan, and its foreign aid mission and bilateral consular affairs are handled by the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan visited Bhutan in August, 2019. Bhutan has participated in a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) regional program for South Asia directed at developing power infrastructure, and it has implemented programs intended to help mitigate some of the effects of climate change. With 70% forest cover and extensive hydropower, Bhutan is a carbon negative country. The Constitution, Elections, and the King The constitution of Bhutan establishes three branches of Source: CIA World Factbook, Economist Intelligence Unit, Media government: legislative, executive, and judicial. The bicameral legislature, or Chi Tshog, includes the National Assembly (Tshogdu), with 47 elected representatives, and peaceful transition of power in which the opposition the National Council (Gyelyong Tshongde), with 25 People’s Democratic Party won 32 of the 42 elected members, 5 of which are selected by the king. -
Development and Its Impacts on Traditional Dispute Resolution in Bhutan
Washington University Journal of Law & Policy Volume 63 New Directions in Domestic and International Dispute Resolution 2020 Formalizing the Informal: Development and its Impacts on Traditional Dispute Resolution in Bhutan Stephan Sonnenberg Seoul National University School of Law Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_journal_law_policy Part of the Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, and the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Commons Recommended Citation Stephan Sonnenberg, Formalizing the Informal: Development and its Impacts on Traditional Dispute Resolution in Bhutan, 63 WASH. U. J. L. & POL’Y 143 (2020), https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_journal_law_policy/vol63/iss1/11 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington University Journal of Law & Policy by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FORMALIZING THE INFORMAL: DEVELOPMENT AND ITS IMPACTS ON TRADITIONAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN BHUTAN Stephan Sonnenberg* INTRODUCTION Bhutan is a small landlocked country with less than a million inhabitants, wedged between the two most populous nations on earth, India and China.1 It is known for its stunning Himalayan mountain ranges and its national development philosophy of pursuing “Gross National Happiness” (GNH).2 This paper argues, however, that Bhutan should also be known for its rich heritage of traditional dispute resolution. That system kept the peace in Bhutanese villages for centuries: the product of Bhutan’s unique history and its deep (primarily Buddhist) spiritual heritage. Sadly, these traditions are today at risk of extinction, victims—it is argued below—of Bhutan’s extraordinary process of modernization. -
A Case Study of Bhutanese Refugees
University of Kentucky UKnowledge University of Kentucky Master's Theses Graduate School 2011 POWER & POLITICS IN RESETTLEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF BHUTANESE REFUGEES Christie Shrestha University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Shrestha, Christie, "POWER & POLITICS IN RESETTLEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF BHUTANESE REFUGEES" (2011). University of Kentucky Master's Theses. 33. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/gradschool_theses/33 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Kentucky Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ABSTRACT OF THESIS POWER & POLITICS IN RESETTLEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF BHUTANESE REFUGEES This thesis examines the complexities in the resettlement of Bhutanese refugees. Using anthropological ethnographic field methods, this thesis explores the power dynamics between the employees of a resettlement organization and the refugees and the intricate webs of power within different institutions, such as local NGOs and healthcare institutions. The study argues that humanitarian actions and interventions are often driven by bureaucratic politics and policies that contradict what humanitarianism stands for as apolitical and value-neutral. These contradictions or paradoxes in humanitarianism also are also present in refugee resettlement. Analyzing these paradoxes that characterize resettlement, this thesis illuminates structural discontinuities or gaps that result from differences in expectations between the refugees and the employees of resettlement organization. Drawing on analyses of the paradoxes and complexities in resettlement, the study concludes that bureaucratic management of refugees reinforces social inequalities and hierarchies of power that masks state’s responsibility towards both the refugees and local NGOs making resettlement an unsettling process. -
Submission by P
MAIN CONTACT PERSON: TILMAN ZUELCH Submission by P. O. Box 2024 Society for Threatened Peoples D-37010 Göttingen a non-governmental organization in special consultative status Phone: +49 (0)551 49906-0 Fax: +49 (0)551 58028 Language: English only E-Mail: [email protected] Universal Periodic Review Sixth session 2009-04-14 Bhutan In 2008 Bhutan has been welcomed by the international community as the world’s youngest democracy. Despite Bhutan’s attempts to present the transition to democracy as a slow and steady process, massive human rights violations still are persisting. Society for Threatened Peoples is extremely concerned about the non recognition of religious and ethnic minorities. Bhutan officially does not recognize any minority group on the basis of religion, race, ethnicity or language. The country is presented by the authorities as a homogenous society with one culture and one religion. But in fact, Bhutan is a multi-religious, multi- cultural and multilingual country. Non-recognition of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities According to Article 3 of the Constitution, which was signed by King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk on July 18, 2008, Buddhism is perceived as a state religion and all religious institutions have the responsibility to promote Buddhism. Any other religious activity inside Bhutan may be prosecuted in the name of an interdiction of religious conversion. Furthermore the Marriage Act of Bhutan prohibits a non- Bhutanese married to a Bhutanese citizen to promote any other religion. The non-Bhutanese has to abide by the existing religious traditions. Bhutan is a multi-ethnic country with at least three major ethnic groups and several minorities. -
Bhutan Signed the Treaty of Sinchulu, Under Which Bhutan Would Receive an Annual Subsidy in Exchange for Ceding Some Border Land
Background: In 1865, Britain and Bhutan signed the Treaty of Sinchulu, under which Bhutan would receive an annual subsidy in exchange for ceding some border land. Under British influence, a monarchy was set up in 1907; three years later, a treaty was signed whereby the British agreed not to interfere in Bhutanese internal affairs and Bhutan allowed Britain to direct its foreign affairs. This role was assumed by independent India after 1947. Two years later, a formal Indo-Bhutanese accord returned the areas of Bhutan annexed by the British, formalized the annual subsidies the country received, and defined India's responsibilities in defense and foreign relations. A refugee issue of some 100,000 Bhutanese in Nepal remains unresolved; 90% of the refugees are housed in seven United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) camps. In March 2005, King WANGCHUCK unveiled the government's draft constitution - which would introduce major democratic reforms - and pledged to hold a national referendum for its approval. A referendum date has yet to be named. Location: Southern Asia, between China and India Area:47,000 sq km Area Comparative: about half the size of Indiana Climate: varies; tropical in southern plains; cool winters and hot summers in central valleys; severe winters and cool summers in Himalayas Terrain: mostly mountainous with some fertile valleys and savanna Capital: Thimphu Official language: Dzongkha, Bhotes speak various Tibetan dialects, Nepalese speak various Nepalese dialects. Bhutan's indigenous population is the Drukpa. Three main ethnic groups, the Sharchops, N galops and the Lhotsampas (of Nepalese origin), make up today's Drukpa population. -
COIS Report Template Version 04 2006
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION REPORT BHUTAN 6 AUGUST 2010 UK Border Agency COUNTRY OF ORIGIN INFORMATION SERVICE BHUTAN 6 AUGUST 2010 Contents Preface Paragraphs Background Information 1. GEOGRAPHY ......................................................................................... 1.01 Map ................................................................................................ …… 2. ECONOMY ............................................................................................. 2.01 3. HISTORY ............................................................................................... 3.01 4. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ....................................................................... 4.01 Useful sources for further information....................................... 4.02 5. CONSTITUTION ...................................................................................... 5.01 6. POLITICAL SYSTEM ................................................................................ 6.01 Human Rights 7. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 7.01 8. SECURITY FORCES................................................................................. 8.01 9. MILITARY SERVICE................................................................................. 9.01 10. JUDICIARY........................................................................................... 10.01 Organisation ................................................................................. 10.01 -
Bhutanese Refugees and Grassroots Activism
37 Displaced but not Disempowered: Bhutanese Refugees and Grassroots Activism Susan Banki, Bhakta Ghimire, and Hari Khanal ABSTRACT In the early 1990s, about 80,000 ethnic Nepalis fled their home country of Bhutan and found refuge in Nepal. For more than a decade, activists from the refugee community used a variety of tactics to try to reverse the position of the Bhutanese government so they could return to Bhutan. Two of these tactics, a series of marches and digital documentation, are explored below. In this inter- Susan Banki is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Sydney. She is completing a book on political activism as carried about by refugees, focusing primarily on Bhutan’s refugee population. Bhakta Ghimire fled Bhutan when he was twenty years old. He spent eighteen years in a refugee camp in Nepal. He resettled to the United States in 2010. Today, he lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He has been working as a social worker in his community for decades. He is also a freelance journalist and editor, working with several Nepali newspapers and publishing houses. Hari Khanal fled from Bhutan when he was seventeen years old and lived in one of the Bhutanese refugee camps in eastern Nepal for seventeen years before resettling to the United States in 2008. He is the founding president of the Bhutanese Society of Western Massachusetts. Mr. Khanal has worked in many aspects of media: as an editor of Sandesh Weekly, a newspaper published in the refugee camps; as a media trainer for young people; as a correspondent for Hamro Prajasakti, a daily Nepali newspaper published from Sikkim, India; and as a reporter for Kanchanjunga FM in Jhapa, Nepal. -
Bhutan CJPME Foundation – Human Rights Report Series Published June, 2017
South Asia - Bhutan CJPME Foundation – Human Rights Report Series Published June, 2017 Bhutan - Human Rights Scorecard 1 Bhutan, a landlocked country in Asia, is located within the Himalayas and is bordered by China and India. The territory was never colonized and developed a distinct national identity based on Buddhism. Transitioning from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy in 2008, Bhutan held its first election in a two-party system. Although Bhutan ranked first in economic freedom and was the least corrupt country in 2016, the country exhibits one of the lowest indicators of socioeconomic development. Official language: Dzongkha Ethnic groups: Ngalops & Sharchops (55%), Lhotshampa (45%) Government: Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy - King: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck - Prime Minister: Tshering Tobgay Death penalty: Abolished and prohibited Population: 770,000 Life expectancy: 69.47 years Under-5 mortality: 33.08 per 1000 Adult literacy: 59.5 percent Section 1: Overall Development The overall development of a country – considering education, health, income, and other factors – is a strong indicator of whether average citizens have a reasonable chance to enjoy social and economic well-being and mobility. Human Development (UNDP Human Development Index (HDI)) 2 0.607 – Medium Human Development 3 According to the UNDP, the Bhutanese had a gross national income per capita of $7,081, and could expect to have on average 12.5 years of schooling. However, other countries with comparable gross national incomes per capita tend to have a much higher HDI. Section 2: Respect for the Integrity of the Person Respect for the integrity of the individual is the most fundamental of human rights groupings. -
A Case Study of Bhutanese Refugees in the USA
NEW ISSUES IN REFUGEE RESEARCH Research Paper No. 208 Power and politics in resettlement: a case study of Bhutanese refugees in the USA Christie Shrestha University of Kentucky E-mail: [email protected] May 2011 Policy Development and Evaluation Service Policy Development and Evaluation Service United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees P.O. Box 2500, 1211 Geneva 2 Switzerland E-mail: [email protected] Web Site: www.unhcr.org These papers provide a means for UNHCR staff, consultants, interns and associates, as well as external researchers, to publish the preliminary results of their research on refugee-related issues. The papers do not represent the official views of UNHCR. They are also available online under ‘publications’ at <www.unhcr.org>. ISSN 1020-7473 Introduction This paper examines the complexities in the resettlement of Bhutanese refugees. It explores the power dynamics between the employees of a refugee resettlement organization and the refugees and analyses the intricate webs of power within different institutions, such as local NGOs and healthcare institutions. The study is based on 9-weeks of ethnographic research conducted in Lexington in the summer of 2009. It addresses three questions: What are the structural discontinuities in resettlement? Are the expectations and ambitions of resettlement organization different from those of the Bhutanese refugees? If so, how are refugees impacted by these differences? Generally, humanitarianism is understood as assisting people in need of help –an action based on notions of saving humans and humanity from real and perceived danger. Since post-WWII, the number of humanitarian organizations has grown exponentially (Black 2001). -
General Assembly Distr
UNITED NATIONS A General Assembly Distr. LIMITED A/HRC/WG.6/6/L.10 8 December 2009 Original: ENGLISH HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review Sixth session Geneva, 30 November -11 December 2009 Advance unedited version DRAFT REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON THE UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW* Bhutan * The final document will be issued under symbol number A/HRC/13/11. The annex to the present report is circulated as received. GE.09- A/HRC/WG.6/6/L.10 Page 2 CONTENTS Paragraphs Page Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 - 4 3 I. SUMMARY OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE REVIEW PROCESS ... 5 - 82 3 A. Presentation by the State under review .......................................... 5 - 23 3 B. Interactive dialogue and responses by the State under review ....... 24 - 100 5 II. CONCLUSIONS AND/OR RECOMMENDATIONS .............................. 101 - 102 15 Annex Composition of the delegation ......................................................................... 25 GE.09- A/HRC/WG.6/6/L.10 Page 3 Introduction 1. The Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), established in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 5/1 of 18 June 2007, held its sixth session from 30 November to 11 December 2009. The review of Bhutan was held at the 10th meeting on 4 December 2009. The delegation of Bhutan was headed by H.E. Mr. Lyonpo Kinzang Dorji, Former Prime Minister and Special Envoy of the Prime Minister. At its meeting held on 8 December 2009, the Working Group adopted the present report on Bhutan. 2. On 7 September 2009, the Human Rights Council selected the following group of rapporteurs (troika) to facilitate the review of Bhutan: India, Madagascar, and Uruguay.