Bhutanese Refugees

Name: Pavel A. Russia
Rating: 5

Approximately one sixth of the people of Bhutan are refugees not allowed to return to their home country.

In the early 1990s, approximately one hundred thousand Nepali speaking people in Bhutan were forced into exile. According to the U.S. Department of State, about 55,000 Bhutanese refugees are currently living in refugee camps in Nepal, and about 58,000 refugees have settled elsewhere, with most of the Bhutanese refugees in the USA.

The government of Bhutan maintains that these people were expelled because they were not citizens of Bhutan. Bhutan instituted a census in 1985 to determine who was and was not a proper citizen of Bhutan. The main requirement to retain citizenship was to provide land ownership documents dating back to 1958. There was another census in 1988-89, and anyone who could not meet the strict citizenship requirements was declared an illegal immigrant. There are still an unknown number of Nepali speaking people living in the south of Bhutan, but they have limited access to employment and education.

There have been numerous talks between Nepal and Bhutan since the purges in the 1990s, but no significant action. Bhutan continues to maintain that many of the Bhutanese refugees are not actually citizens of Bhutan, and Nepal refuses to accept them despite the common language and ethnicity.

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The United States has agreed to allow 60,000 refugees, while Canada, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, and Australia have agreed to accept 10,000 each, so there is hope that in the near future these people will at least have a home.

If you are Bhutanese refugee in America, and you have relatives who are refugees that have not resettled yet, there might be a way to get your relatives resettled in the United States. If you are a refugee from Bhutan who has not resettled, there may be a way for you to resettle in the United States. PoliticalAsylumUSA.COM may be able to help you. Call us at today. We are available 24/7.

The United States has a strong commitment to human rights at home and around the world. Americans believe that basic human rights should be something everyone has. One of the ways the United States fulfills that is by granting asylum to any noncitizen in the United States who has a fear of losing their basic human rights upon returning to his or her home country.

A person can qualify for asylum, or political asylum, if he or she has

a reasonable fear,
of future persecution,
on account of race, religion, national origin, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group..

A reasonable fear just means one need not prove conclusively that they will be persecuted in the future; only that they have a good reason to fear that it will happen. Courts have granted asylum in the US to people who have as little as a ten to fifteen percent chance of persecution in the future. Persecution means that the harm an asylum seeker is afraid of is severe enough to be considered a serious violation of one’s human rights. A loss of money or small restriction on liberty is typically not enough to constitute persecution, while a serious threat to one’s life or liberty is more likely to be considered persecution.

Race, religion, and national origin are fairly straightforward. Political opinion asylum does not necessarily require a political opinion in order to be a protected opinion; an opinion about a nonpolitical issue can sometimes qualify. An imputed political opinion is sufficient for asylum purposes. A particular social group is a group of people with a common, immutable trait that either cannot be changed or should never be forced to change. Tribal and ethnic groups, female victims of domestic violence, and people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) commonly fit into this category.

US Asylum: A Chance for Many

There is no limit to the number of people who can receive political asylum in the United States. Anyone who fits the requirements can live and work in the United States for life, along with his or her spouse and young, unmarried children. After one year of being in asylee status, an asylee can apply for a Green Card and, eventually, citizenship.

US Asylum law is very generous, but also very complex. It is designed to help people in need, but the US government faces a lot of fraud from asylum applicants.

Pavel A. Russia

I would highly recommend Political Asylum USA's consultation service! It was very informative about my rights as a persecuted LGBT individual.

Daniela E, Venezuela

Political Asylum USA was a great resource to me. They fully explained the process of getting asylum in the United States. When I told them that I didn't have any money to hire a private attorney, they recommended a non-profit legal provider to me.

Yang N. China

I was lost when I arrived to the United States, and scared for my life in my home country. I knew I couldn't go back, but I also didn't know what to do. I found Political Asylum USA and luckily they gave me all the information I needed, to fully investigate my options. I would recommend their services to anyone that does not know how to proceed with asylum

Dmitry G. Belarus

Political Asylum USA helped me to understand how asylum works in the United States. It is extremely complicated, so it was nice to have experts to guide me. They even referred me to a top New York-based Immigration Attorney, who handled my case from start to finish.

Once asylum is granted, a person has the right to live and work in the US for the rest of his or her life. If the asylee has a spouse or a young, unmarried child outside of the US, he or she can apply to get them a visa to enter the US. After a year of being in the US on asylum status, an asylee can apply for a Green Card.

An asylee typically cannot return to his or her home country, except under certain circumstances. The logic of this is that, if you are granted asylum because you are truly afraid of returning, why would you want to return after being granted asylum?

At the Political Asylum USA, we are highly experienced in US asylum law. We have helped people from all over the world fleeing persecution to gain asylum in the US. Our attorneys, translators and support staff will work with you individually to give you the best chance of success possible. We know how difficult and heart wrenching the asylum process can be, and we will be with you every step of the way.

If you are afraid of persecution in your home country and would like to get help from a top New York Asylum Attorney, call the PoliticalAsylumUSA toll free at +1 (800) 560-1768.