Refugees Trek Across Himalayas Marchers Heading To Bhutan, But Chances Of Success Slim

Chanting Hindu prayers, 150 Bhutan refugees began a trek Sunday across the Himalaya Mountains to try to reclaim their homes in the “Land of the Thunder Dragon.”

The marchers represent 100,000 ethnic Nepalese whose families migrated to Bhutan decades ago but were driven out in 1990 amid cultural clashes.

The 150 marchers plan a 23-day hike from eastern Nepal through a sliver of India into Bhutan, a tiny mountainous land which many travel books describe as the last Shangri-La. The march began from the town of Damak.

If they reach the capital of Thimphu, the marchers intend to ask King Jigme Wangchuk to let their people return.

“The peace marchers will press our demand to be fulfilled either through national reconciliation or through constitutional or legal settlement,” said march organizer Jagat Acharya.

But it’s doubtful they will finish. Bhutan has asked India to stop the protesters at its border with Nepal. India, which regards its ally Bhutan as a buffer state between it and China, is likely to comply.

And if the refugees do get through, it’s doubtful the king will grant their request. They had tried to replace him with a democratic government after Bhutan’s Drukpa majority tried to force them to change their Hindu religion, language and style of dress.

The group fled Bhutan in 1990 after troops fired on a demonstration, killing three people.

The Drukpas are Buddhists who came from Tibet hundreds of years ago to what they call Druk-Yul - “Land of the Thunder Dragon.”