Bhutan

Located between India and China, Bhutan is a small country in Asia.  I first became aware of it by reading the book "The Geography of Bliss" by Eric Weiner.  Weiner visits Bhutan because he is intrigued by the idea that the king has made the Gross National Happiness (GNH) of his country a national priority.  Can you objectively measure happiness? The government of Bhutan claims you can:

"Bhutan seeks to establish a happy society, where people are safe, where everyone is guaranteed a decent livelihood, and where people enjoy universal access to good education and health care. It is a society where there is no pollution and violation of the environment, where there is no aggression and war, where inequalities do not exist, and where cultural values get strengthened every day. (…) A happy society is one where people enjoy freedoms, where there is no oppression, where art, music, dance, drama and culture flourish."

While this might make Bhutan sound like the mythical Shangri-La, the reality for some people has been quite different.  My students are Bhutanese refugees.  Culturally Nepali, their ancestors settled in the southern part of Bhutan.  In the 1980s, the king of Bhutan enacted several policies aimed at homogenizing the many ethnic groups present in the country.  When this group protested the enforced acculturation, the government retaliated, forcing them to flee the country.  Most of the refugees fled through India and ended up living in refugee camps in Nepal.  Though the governments of Nepal and Bhutan met to discuss the refugee issue many, many times, they could not agree on a repatriation program.  As the years dragged on, it became apparent for most of the refugees that the only option was a third party resettlement. 

The resettlement of Bhutanese refugees in the US has been happening for about 5 years now.  Tomorrow I'll tell you more about what's happening with this group here.