After living for more than 20 years in a refugee camp in Nepal, Ram Rai is very happy to be settled here. “We had nothing there. I want to thank America for giving us a chance to start a new life,” the 30-year-old man said during a recent interview at Lutheran Social Services of New England, where he is a caseworker. “We are struggling, but hopefully we can pass through this phase and make a contribution to America.” Rai, whose family moved from Nepal to Bhutan four generations ago, was among the ethnic Nepali driven from Bhutan about 20 years ago. The government was bent on having a “one people, one nation policy,” he says.

Read More

The Bhutanese Society of New Zealand (BSNZ) Saturday held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Palmerstone North. According to its newly elected President, Bal Ghimire, the first AGM elected the new executive board of five members. Lucky Rai and Dilli Neupane were elected as the society’s Vice Chair and General Secretary respectively. Likewise, Suryaman Ria [...]

Read More

Repressive regimes everywhere employ torture on political prisoners to both extract information and to weaken the dissent. From the notorious Abu Ghraib in Iraq to Guantanamo in Cuba, the contemporary politics is replete with torture chambers of many kinds. It’s ironic that a country, which conjures up an image of the Himalayan paradise in the [...]

Read More

Nov 18: The National Assembly secretariat has rejected many issues proposed to be discussed at the parliament session set to begin on Friday in Thimphu. The constituency development grant (CDG), problems over construction of farm roads, effective implementation of Acts, land dispute mechanism and feeder and mule tracks were agendas proposed for parliamentary discussion. However, [...]

Read More

Nov 18: As the elephants destroying houses in villages increase in recent years, Nature Conservation Division (NCD) and World Wildlife Fund concluded a three-day workshop to understand the movement patterns of elephants, their numbers and interactions with human beings in Phuentsholing recently.  The aim was to educate field staff to conduct census of elephants so [...]

Read More

Nov 18: Earth-quake victims who had not insured their houses have now begun to face challenges in building new houses as support extended by the government is not enough to carry out the work.  In other cases, the Royal Insurance Company after a field visit announced to cut down their insurance compensation rate for some [...]

Read More

Washington DC (USA), June 22: The Bhutanese citizens, Khagendra Baral and wife,Ganga spoke on behalf of fellow-Bhutanese at a gathering at National geographic Society ,Grosvenor Auditorium on the occasion of World Refugee Day on June 18. Khagendra (left) with the UNHCR good-will ambassador (middle) and his wife, Ganga “We were invited to give a small presentation [...]

Read More

Chief of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Nepal Daisy Dell, accompanied by chief donor representatives toured the Bhutanese refugee camps in Jhapa and Morang districts on Wednesday. The team visited Goldhap, Beldangi and Sanischare

Read More