Leaving Bhutan In the early 1800s and 1900s the tiny country of Bhutan needed workers and farmers to help build the country Thousands of families from the nearby country of Nepal went to work there and raise families At the time Bhutan’s government welcomed the Nepalese people They settled in southern Bhutan They were called Lhotshampas lot-sham-puz which means people from the south China Bhutan is a small kingdom in Asia Nepal India Bhutan Bangladesh The flag of Bhutan has an image of a dragon on it The Bhutanese name for Bhutan is Druk Yul druhk yul It means Land of the Thunder Dragon 4
UN Rights of the Child Every child has rights Rights are privileges and freedoms that are protected by law Refugees have the right to special protection and help The United Nations UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is a document that lists the rights that all children should have Think about these rights as you read this book By the 1970s the Lhotshampas made up more than 25 percent of Bhutan’s population Because they practiced their own language and religion the Bhutanese government was not happy It saw them as a threat to the country’s way of life language and religion The government made laws that discriminated against the Lhotshampas These laws violated their human rights The Lhotshampas protested against the government They were arrested and put in jail beaten or killed Thousands fled to live in refugee camps in Nepal Refugees are people who flee their homeland because of war or other unsafe conditions Refugees are different from immigrants Immigrants choose to leave to look for better opportunities in another country 5 Some of the Lhotshampas have been living in refugee camps in Nepal for 20 years Many children have been born in the camps
My Homeland Bhutan Bhutan has many different landscapes These range from untouched forests to snow-covered mountains and rich green valleys The people of Bhutan have strong traditions rooted in their Buddhist religion Local leaders ruled small areas of the country until the 1600s Then a leader from the nearby country of Tibet united Bhutan as one country Bhutan was then ruled by different kings for more than 100 years Finally in 2008 the fourth king turned the country into a democracy Bhutan’s citizens or the people who lived there then began to have a stronger voice in deciding their country’s future Bhutan’s Story in Numbers The Himalayan mountain range is an important part of Bhutan’s northern landscape The population of Bhutan is only 790,000 The country is about the same size as Switzerland But Switzerland has more than 10 times the number of people 6 Thimphu
For many years Bhutan’s government kept the country cut off from the rest of the world The government wanted to keep Bhutan’s way of life and traditions the same Up until 50 years ago the country had no paved roads cars hospitals or telephones It was the last country on Earth to allow television The Internet and television both arrived in 1999 They are still very restricted Few foreigners are allowed to visit Bhutan Bhutan’s capital city Thimphu is home to 150,000 people To measure the country’s success the government created the idea of Gross National Happiness The government measures the country’s success in happiness rather than money Some people have called Bhutan paradise on Earth But some of its policies have created hardships and violated peoples rights Bhutan’s landscapes are breathtaking and beautiful 7
