An estimated 128,700 persons from Bhutan were living as refugees in neighboring countries at the end of 2003, including some 113,700 in Nepal and more than 15,000 in India. Most of the refugees were Lhotsampa – Bhutanese Hindus of Nepalese origin – who fled between 1990 and 1992 to escape ethnically based harassment and expulsion by the Bhutanese authorities.

New Developments:

See South Asia Regional Summary

Bhutanese Refugees in Nepal

See "Unending Limbo: Warehousing Bhutanese Refugees in Nepal"

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