Living Conditions

Housing

The huts built in the 7 camps were constructed with mud wall bases, woven bamboo walls, with a thatched or black plastic roof and mud floor. Black plastic was used for window coverings.

The huts were very close together. They leaked in the rainy season and were extremely cold in the winter, hot in the summer.

Families were given rationed building materials to repair their huts from time to time.

They had no electricity but some were able to get hold of a car battery to run a small TV.

 

Cooking was mostly done using a kerosene (again rationed) burner.

A Dutch group came up with the idea of a hotplate heated by focused solar energy and this was given to many in some of the camps.

 

 

 

 

Food

Meager rations, enough to sustain life were provided by the UNHCR through donation from many western countries and distributed by Caritas Nepal. The fortnightly ration per person was:

Rice-5.600gm
Pulse-0.560gm (mainly lentils)
Gram-0.280gm (chick pea flour)
Vegetable oil-0.350gm
Sugar-0.280gm
Salt-0.105gm
Unilito-0.490gm (wheat/corn blend cereal)
Kerosene- 1 ltr per family per month.

The staple diet is rice with dhal, pickle and vegetables.
Fruit and vegetables were not provided in the ration pack but were obtainable by various means.

   

Car Battery used for electricity         

Food Preparation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Education

Education is very important to the exile Bhutanese. They see it as the only way for their children to get opportunities in life. From the beginning an education system was set up in the camps by Caritas, for children from Year1-10. These schools were staffed by volunteers from within the camps. English language was taught as a subject from at least year 2. Extra tutoring and other activities were available to those who had the means to pay for it.

 

Frequent exams were held and a pass was required to enter the next year level. After completing Year 10 the children had to further their education at their own expense, outside the camp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Health

Those who were young or old and not strong did not survive well on the subsistence rations. many died of malnutrition. Many illnesses raging through the camps due to poor hygiene took many more. Caritas Nepal provided a basic medical service.

Status

110-130,000 people fled from persecution in Bhutan in the early 1990s. They arrived in Nepal with no documents, no identification, no status. It wasn't until 2006 a census was carried out in each camp and people categorised and ID papers given to them. Then in 2007 the Nepal Government agreed to grant exit visas for those agreeing to third country resettlement. In March 2008, 6 western countries led by USA and including Australia and New Zealand, began receiving and resettling some of these people. To date about 60,000 have applied and 7,000 have been resettled.

Work
Some work is available within the camps and funds raised from these acticities is used to buy items that are not supplied.
The Bhutanese Refugee Women's Forum has set up some work co-operatives, making things such as shawls and bags for local sale within the camps.

Recently, in the Khudunabari Camp, a bakery became profitable, giving refugees an alternate source of nutrition, and a welcome respite from the monotony of their daily ration..

http://www.brwf.org/Home/success-stories/back-from-the-ashes-the-resurgence-of-the-khudunabari-bakery