Ethnic Groups in Bhutan - Contemporary Tibetans

Contemporary Tibetans

Bhutan also had a sizable modern Tibetan refugee population, which stood at 10,000 in 1987. The major influx of 6,000 persons came in 1959 in the wake of the 1959 Tibetan Rebellion. The Tibetan expatriates became only partially integrated into Bhutanese society, however, and many were unwilling to accept citizenship. Perceiving a lack of allegiance to the state on the part of Tibetans, the government decided in 1979 to expel to India those who refused citizenship. India, after some reluctance, acceded to the move and accepted more than 3,100 Tibetans between 1980 and 1985. Another 4,200 Tibetans requested and received Bhutanese citizenship. Although Bhutan traditionally welcomed refugees—and still accepted a few new ones fleeing the 1989 unrest in Tibet—government policy in the late 1980s was to refuse more Tibetan refugees.