<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131124/637233999c7e80680e0c48edjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="1007"/><figcaption>Members of Peace Initiative Bhutan at the West Wing in Washington DC last month. All photos: PEACEINITIATIVEBHUTAN.</figcaption></figure>Bhutan’s much-touted happiness rating rests atop a bed of pain of more than 100,000 refugees evicted from their country. I know, because I am one of them.I come from a working class family that lived in Bhutan for generations, with no interest or involvement in politics. My community, known in Bhutan as Lhotshampa, traditionally lived in the south of the Himalayan country.In 1989, Bhutan conducted a national census and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/reports/2007/bhutan0507/3.htm">revoked our citizenship</a> after retroactively implementing the country’s 1985 Nationality Law. The policy of ‘national integration’ and ‘revocation of citizenship’ catalysed our community’s <a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN-SL/TXT/?from=EN&amp;uri=CELEX:51996IP0329">large-scale exodus</a>.One night, the coal mine office at the Bhutan-India border where my father worked as a clerk was attacked and ransacked. The next day, security personnel picked up my father and severely beat him.They questioned his patriotism and nationality and tried to get him to confess to the destruction and reveal who was behind it. My father, born to a simple farming family, had no clue. After this traumatic experience, he made the hard decision to leave the country.On March 3, 1990, we were among the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/bhutans-refugees-between-hope-and-despair/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">people of Bhutan who fled the country</a> for safety. I was nine years old. We were sent to India, and from there taken in trucks to Timai, a refugee camp in eastern Nepal, where I grew up.The United States Refugee Resettlement Program helped me relocate to America in 2009. Two years later, my family joined me and we are now well settled. But together with all of us who were traumatised by statelessness, want to heal the pain of dislocation.Those who left Bhutan felt compelled by the threat to their lives, identity, culture, and language. In some cases, the state pushed them out through its crackdown on human rights and political activists, including some who were exiled and members of political parties accused of engaging in violence.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131124/6372339c9c7e80680e0c48eejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1600" height="1200"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The violence has decreased over the years, but this does not mean that the threat is gone, nor that there is positive peace.  Many Lhotshampa citizens are still missing, others have been killed, and close to 50 political prisoners are serving life sentences in Bhutan’s prisons.The King recently <a href="http://www.bhutannewsnetwork.com/2022/04/six-political-prisoners-released/">released six political prisoners</a>, and commuted a life sentence.Till last year, <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/bhutan/">approximately 6,300 Bhutanese refugees</a> were still languishing in two remaining refugee camps in Nepal. Many of the over 100,000 Bhutanese refugees resettled in eight western countries have not been able to return to the land of their birth with which they have an intense attachment.The Peace Initiative Bhutan started in 2020 by families who are divided between Bhutan and the countries they have been resettled in.Its goal is to end the polarisation and distrust between people back home in Bhutan and overseas. Peace Initiative Bhutan currently functions under the auspices of <a href="https://globalcitizenscircle.org/">Global Citizens Circle</a>, founded in 1974 in the USA which was formed during the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement.Peace Initiative Bhutan is not interested in ‘defeating’ the government in Thimphu. We want a ‘win-win’ solution which we know will not be easy or quick. But it is possible through a sustained, holistic peace-building and reconciliation process, in which remorse, apology and forgiveness will play a critical role.The process, rooted in restorative rather than retributive justice, centres on fairness and justice which are prerequisites in addressing conflict. This was central to the Truth and Reconciliation Process in South Africa.The past years have seen a growing realisation among people in Bhutan and abroad about the futility of the conflict. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">suffering of divided families</a> is underpinned by the urge to visit their birth country and meet loved ones.Western education has also led to a visible shift in the thinking amongst exiled families from Bhutan, even as new thinking is evident among politicians back home.This shift in perception and attitude makes it possible to find a pragmatic and peaceful resolution to the decades-old, seemingly intractable conflict. The disputing parties have a shared goal in making Bhutan genuinely happy and prosperous.Since the conflict, Bhutan has transitioned into a democracy with general elections every five years. It adopted its first Constitution in 2008 and established an independent judicial system. A silver lining to the conflict was also the formation of political parties who are now participating in the democratic process.According to two United Nations’ triennial reviews, 2015 and 2018, Bhutan has <a href="https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/d8files/knowledge-products/WP_20_04%20Bhutan%20Graduation_Potential%20implications%20and%20policy%20imparatives.pdf">met the criteria</a> to graduate in 2023 from the category of least developed countries (LDCs) and rise above the poverty index.Many overseas people from Bhutan are outstanding in the fields of academia, entrepreneurship and literature, yet consider themselves Bhutanese first.This provides a great opportunity for Bhutan to have an international profile on a scale greater than its physical area and 600,000 population.The diaspora wields considerable soft power to the home country, to garner international support and solidarity in Bhutan’s favour.I have spoken to many Bhutanese American business owners who want to contribute to Bhutan's economic development, its education sector, and in other fields, besides directly helping their own family members who are still in Bhutan.Many are eager for an opportunity to improve their relationship and reconcile differences with the country of birth.Bhutan is one of the few carbon-neutral countries in the world, and it has a ‘happiness' policy that is maturing, devoted to enhancing the wellbeing of its people.An opening to the Bhutanese in exile will also improve Bhutan’s ranking in the World Happiness Report, which it had a central role in establishing.Last month, 17 young Bhutanese American professionals representing Peace Initiative Bhutan and other non-profits  visited Washington D.C and called on Congress and the Biden administration to help foster peace and reconciliation in Bhutan.The delegates met with the Deputy Director South and Central Asian Affairs under the US Department of State and Director for South Asia Regional Affairs National Security Brian Luti at the White House and asked for their continued support and engagement with Bhutan.Finding common ground is crucial for conflicting parties to come to a meaningful dialogue. The common ground in this situation lies in the desire to fulfil the aspirations of genuine gross national happiness in Bhutan.Dealing with trauma means facing the fact that we have been harmed in some way. When we separate the action from the person who harmed us, we can help rehabilitate them and create new connections.We need to learn to hate the game, not the player. Or, hate the sin, not the sinner.  We are all against injustice, and there are many ways to seek justice. As Mahatma Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye makes the world go blind."Reconciliation needs collaboration. Community agencies, local organisations, religious leaders, politicians, the King of Bhutan, and businesses, all can play essential roles in this process.Combining realism with hope may help us move toward a more peaceful future. We at the Initiative believe it is time for representatives of the Bhutan Government and the Bhutanese diaspora to sit down to discuss the future, focusing on agreement and accommodation.Suraj Budathoki is founder-member of Peace Initiative Bhutan and a doctoral student in Transformative Social Change at Saybrook University, California. <a href="mailto:sbudathoki@pibhutan.org">sbudathoki@pibhutan.org</a>. This is a Sapan News syndicated piece <a href="http://www.southasiapeace.com/">www.southasiapeace.com</a>.

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Gross National Reconciliation in Bhutan

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161148/636d1d4d9c7e80680e0af3a7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"/><figcaption>Bhutanese pro-democracy leader Tek Nath Rizal.</figcaption></figure>It has been a long time since the government of Bhutan washed its hands off the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/japan-award-for-bhutan-minister-opposed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/japan-award-for-bhutan-minister-opposed/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639192504593000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3lGADWqlZQgAuLZM0rY3sr">refugees it created,</a> and their future.Most refugees who spent nearly two decades in camps in Nepal have been <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2011/08/17/over-50000-butanese-refugees-resettled/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2011/08/17/over-50000-butanese-refugees-resettled/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639192504593000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0Nn1OZXzYkrKINo3JeyXxm">resettled in western countries</a>, but there are still about <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639192504593000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1k8YQSJ-ZmdcqbmD6cOM7M">7,000 of us left in Nepal</a> who are in limbo. The government of Nepal is renewing their refugee identity cards that are due to expire by mid-2022, and provide new IDs for 429 more refugees.This is a welcome decision, and a glimmer of hope in the camps in eastern Nepal. But many of these stateless people now lack a means of livelihood, and are in deep despair. It is not clear yet if Nepal will consider the plea of all Bhutan’s people here still awaiting recognition of their refugee status.Now that the governments of Bhutan and Nepal are in a more comfortable position to discuss bilateral issues, we in the refugee community expect Nepal to continue to engage the governments of Bhutan and India and the international community until the last <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/no-one-to-care-for-doctor-who-cared-for-everyone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/no-one-to-care-for-doctor-who-cared-for-everyone/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639192504593000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3jeJKQi5ZzXMI0uH5RmEX8">stateless Bhutanese</a> finds a home and livelihood.If Bhutan and Nepal have an agreement on resolving the refugee issue, they should implement it promptly. If not, the two governments must together approach India — after all, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18150#.YbHefy8RppT" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D18150%23.YbHefy8RppT&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639192504593000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2eHvPp0hv2VPXbXJvIhT0F">the refugees were transported from Bhutan to the Nepal</a> border across Indian territory 30 years ago.It is an insult to the international justice system and insensitivity towards human suffering to keep people in the camp indefinitely. This delay in resolving the refugee problem is allowing the government in Thimphu to detain over 50 political prisoners indefinitely. Some of them have been incarcerated since 1990.I myself was tortured, physically and psychologically abused in Bhutan’s jails for over ten years. They employed mind-control mechanisms to ruin me mentally. They must be using the same techniques on the remaining prisoners, damaging their minds permanently.I have chronicled my experience in my autobiographies, especially the same methods of torture that were rampantly used by American and Soviet intelligence agencies during the cold war years. I know first hand of the pain and painful treatment of political prisoners in jails in Bhutan, locked up and isolated from the rest of the world, only taken out for menial work during harsh weather.Police arrested me during a visit here in 1989 and the Nepal government extradited me to Bhutan, labeled me a dangerous terrorist, framing me for many malicious crimes, some of which happened after my arrest and in which I had no involvement.They dragged me to court several times where they abused me physically and verbally, incarcerated me for a decade in wrongful and rigorous detention. Bhutan’s highest court finally declared me innocent. The king had announced that he would release me after the resolution of the refugee problem, in which I had no connection. This allowed them to delay my release.The Thimphu regime had labeled me a ringleader of the dissident movement. It was international outcry and continuous protests by human rights organisations that forced the Bhutan government to release me. Yet, the people who were arrested and jailed for being my followers are still behind the bars. There has been no similar international pressure to get them released.The political system of Bhutan has changed from an autocratic to democratic setup, three elections have taken place since the declaration of democracy in 2007, yet the people who asked for democratic changes in the old system are still in prison. They jailed dissidents for demanding democracy, yet absurdly, after the declaration of democracy those very people are still in detention.Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Amnesty International visited a few prisons in Bhutan where political prisoners are detained. The visitors had assured the captives that they would facilitate a reunion with their families upon release. Those freed have found that their families in refugee camps in Nepal have all been resettled, and there is no word on their reunions. International human rights watchdogs have now stopped visiting the prisoners.Those released from Bhutan’s jails at different times, or those without proper documents to prove Bhutanese citizenship are still languishing in the refugee camps in Nepal. They have been appealing to the government of Nepal and the <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/2020/10/5f757f054/hardships-multiply-older-refugees-amid-covid-19-pandemic.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/2020/10/5f757f054/hardships-multiply-older-refugees-amid-covid-19-pandemic.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639192504594000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0V8G6xuwWIrXeBj_NySNny">UNHCR</a> to have them <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19646#.YbHgNC8RppQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D19646%23.YbHgNC8RppQ&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639192504594000&amp;usg=AOvVaw10DXTxm7g88uzWzqmM7WCr">reunited with their families</a> abroad, or be granted citizenship.The Nepal government announcement that it will issue IDs to 429 refugees has been a relief. But what is not sure is if it will also cover the Drukpa people of eastern and northern Bhutan. Besides the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/On-the-way-up/Nepal-lhotshampa-rohingya,1046" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/On-the-way-up/Nepal-lhotshampa-rohingya,1046&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639192504594000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1u1WhqUUoyMHF37-9ZeWWR">Nepali-speaking Lhotsampa</a>, the Drukpa were evicted for being critical of the regime.The problem is that Nepal does not consider the Drukpa as refugees because of their ethnicity and their inability to speak Nepali. The Drukpa in the camps need special consideration to be recognised as Bhutan’s refugees too.There is also <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/family-separation-bhutan-style/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/family-separation-bhutan-style/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639192504594000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2GQl4PKpa5jx_Nj7m6nZJx">the issue of separated families</a>, with some resettled in the US and other western countries, some still in refugee camps in Nepal and others back in Bhutan.  The Thimphu government still perceives family reunions as a political threat, and is not allowing them.Abandoned by Nepal and Bhutan, many of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/home-away-from-home-for-bhutan-refugees/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/home-away-from-home-for-bhutan-refugees/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639192504594000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1GfjYmr1d6smbN3pDWoP_5">families resettled abroad</a> are mentally traumatised by prolonged separation. Difficulty in adjusting to life in the West, ignorance about counseling, language issues and welfare have led many resettled Bhutanese to end their lives.The suicide rate among former refugees is tragically high, and is a neglected problem.Over 7,000 refugees in the refugee camps in Nepal <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/who-stands-with-bhutanese-refugees-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/who-stands-with-bhutanese-refugees-in-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639192504594000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0gWUgtG8Ldp0c8MJUyTsRF">await a resolution</a>. Many are determined to go back to the homes they left behind in Bhutan 30 years ago. The refugee agencies supporting them in Nepal have stopped supplies, and there is pressure to assimilate into Nepali society.This strategy of dispersing and neglecting the refugees has buried the crisis, leaving the Thimphu regime the victor and allowing it to get away with this appalling act of ethnic cleansing of its own citizens.The governments of Bhutan and India have now barbed-wired their international border. While bilateral trade with Thimphu goes on, the border wall has stopped all travel by ordinary people on both sides of the border for their livelihood. In the name of security, the Bhutan government has confined its own people in an open prison with no access to the outside world.Abandoned by international watchdogs, by the Thimphu regime and by New Delhi, Bhutan’s refugees are nevertheless encouraged by the steps taken by the Nepal government on IDs. But we also expect it to find a holistic and just solution to facilitate family reunions with relatives, and a return to Bhutan to those who wish to do so.On Human Rights Day on 10 December, we urge international rights organisations to reopen their files and ask the Thimphu government to make public the list of all political prisoners and release them promptly. We demand that the governments of Bhutan and India lift physical restrictions and allow people freedom of movement.Tek Nath Rizal is a <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/142/FromtheNepaliPress/2740#.YbHZ4S8RppQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/142/FromtheNepaliPress/2740%23.YbHZ4S8RppQ&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639192504594000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3KOpVnvLU-OFBlgi-MbRBO">Bhutanese pro-democracy leader</a>, and was <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/fr/documents/asa14/004/1999/fr/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amnesty.org/fr/documents/asa14/004/1999/fr/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1639192504594000&amp;usg=AOvVaw17ls1nQOdh-F1B8bWMpMUI">Amnesty International’s Prisoner of Conscience</a>. He has been living in Nepal since his release from Chamgang Prison in Bhutan in 1999.

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Bhutan’s refugees between hope and despair

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111015114/636d05969c7e80680e0a5f16jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1236" height="814"/><figcaption>Lyonpo Dago Tshering served as Bhutan’s Home Minister between 1991-98 and saw the eviction of 100,000 Bhutanese from Nepal, in the world’s least-known refugee crisis.</figcaption></figure>A consortium of dozens of Bhutan organisations all over the world have sent a letter to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to withdraw his country’s decision to <a href="https://www.mfa.gov.bt/?p=10758" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.mfa.gov.bt/?p%3D10758&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625215338744000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFe-EHR_qg7yK7RqeCBsJ9tV4d-yw">confer an award</a> to Bhutan’s former Home Minister Lyonpo Dago Tshering, saying he had violated the human rights of citizens and suppressed democracy in the country 30 years ago.The Global Bhutanese Campaign Coordination Committee for Japan Campaign 2021 sent the letter this week asking that the ‘Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star’ on Dago Tshering be revoked.‘The decision of the Japanese government to award Dago Tshering, a primary perpetrator of human rights violations and voice of democracy in Bhutan during the 1990s has come to us with surprise, pain and shock,’ the letter says.‘While we acknowledge the desire of your government to strengthen mutual relationship between Bhutan and Japan through the conferral of this award, we regret to state that this very gesture of goodness has unlocked deep seated injury and trauma that many of us Bhutanese have personally undergone during the Home Minister’s tenure,’ it adds.The letter, signed by organisations of Bhutanese in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Nepal, New Zealand, Norway, United Kingdom and United States urges the government and people of Japan to review the decision.“The entire Bhutanese diaspora has come together to raise their voice of concern against Japan’s decision to confer this award,” said Jogen Gazmere, convenor of the Japan chapter of the global campaign.The Bhutanese are regarded as the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Bhutanese-refugees-resettlement-program-ending-in-2018,4121" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Bhutanese-refugees-resettlement-program-ending-in-2018,4121&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625215338745000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGr2u61MHJgJco3JeIU-ZKNIn-lZg">world’s most forgotten refugees </a>after 100,000 of them (one-sixth the population) who had been living in the country for generations were <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18150#.YN1-Ny8RoWr" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D18150%23.YN1-Ny8RoWr&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625215338745000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF8_8oP_ndTaGGqqf0gdBe__EVN1A">driven out of the country</a> by the regime beginning 1990, and with the help of India forcibly driven into Nepal.There are still <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/no-one-to-care-for-doctor-who-cared-for-everyone/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/no-one-to-care-for-doctor-who-cared-for-everyone/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625215338745000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHg9OPSlRd8G63QxouX2hFoapEk9g">7,000 Bhutanese in two camps</a> in southeastern Nepal, with the rest having been <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2011/08/17/over-50000-butanese-refugees-resettled/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2011/08/17/over-50000-butanese-refugees-resettled/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625215338745000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFyxGDjVmoTOjoGD9Vw8gXpKGt3cA">resettled in eight countries</a> around the world, nearly <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/camps-for-Bhutanese-refugees-are-emptying-but-some-want-to-return-home,2748" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/camps-for-Bhutanese-refugees-are-emptying-but-some-want-to-return-home,2748&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625215338745000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEeAZ2zvB4l7ku5i-4uatqX4DQ6-g">96,000 of them</a> in the United States.As deputy Home Minister of Bhutan, Dago Tshering in August 1990 issued a written directive revoking the citizenship of the Lhotshampa people of southern Bhutan. When they protested, Bhutanese activists say Tshering mobilised the state machinery to arrest, torture and evict the southern Bhutanese and render them stateless.He was promoted to Home Minister and served from 1991-1998 before being made ambassador to Japan from 1999 to 2008.The refugees spent nearly 20 years in makeshift camps in Nepal. Bhutan refused to take them back and by the time they started being resettled in third countries, the refugees numbered 120,000. Bhutan has maintained that those evicted had illegally settled in the country and were recent migrants.Bhutanese human rights activist <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17869#.YN19ny8RoWo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D17869%23.YN19ny8RoWo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625215338745000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHFWi3PPaeplOQHliQR_6ZaiIxbhQ">Tek Nath Rizal</a> who was an Amnesty International ‘prisoner of conscience’ and imprisoned for 10 years has said he cannot understand why Japan is honouring a man like Tshering.“I cannot fathom how a country like Japan, which has championed for the guarantee of human rights and democracy in Bhutan in various forms for years, has now decided to award Dago Tshering, a racist, ruthless and corrupt former home minister,” Rizal, who now lives in Nepal, <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/why-did-japan-award-bhutans-dago-tshering-with-the-order-of-the-rising-sun/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/why-did-japan-award-bhutans-dago-tshering-with-the-order-of-the-rising-sun/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625215338745000&amp;usg=AFQjCNECAb1DrC4i1G6Vov69wFTCBeHyYQ">wrote in the portal, The Diplomat.</a>The eviction has been described as the largest by any country in modern history in terms of the proportion of the original population, a process described by rights activists as Bhutan’s ‘ethnic cleansing’ of its people.The letter from the Bhutanese organisations to the Japanese prime minister says: ‘As the Home Minister, Mr. Dago Tshering exercised enormous power and authority, next only to the King. He misused his powers to silence and repress people often with no restraint or control.’T P Mishra, whose father was also detained and tortured by the Bhutan regime, and who is now settled in the US, says, “Japan must understand and appreciate the impact of the other side of Tshering’s career — that of the ethnic-cleansing of the Nepali-speaking population in Bhutan and the hounding of them when resettled.”

Japan award for Bhutan minister opposed

This week at the National Population Policy launch Prime Minister K P Oli exhorted Nepalis to get married by age 20 and have three babies by the time they are 30. This was the first indication that the highest office in the land has understood the need to address Nepal’s dramatically <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepals-demographic-window-is-closing">falling birth rate</a>, but Oli’s statement was greeted with ridicule on<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/avoiding-the-quicksand-of-social-media"> social media</a> — especially by women. Most urban young are already grappling with economic pressures and shifting life priorities. Even with a university degree,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/workers-return-to-jobless-nepal?%2F"> many cannot find jobs</a>, and are taking the first flight out for overseas employment. Having a child is now a fraught decision shaped by income, individual autonomy, and family pressure. The <a href="https://www.unfpa.org/swp2025">UNFPA’s State of the World Population report </a>released last month, highlighted a significant <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/migrating-males-and-population-decline">decline in fertility rates </a>around the world. The global average fertility rate is 2.25 children per woman, and 18% of the reproductive adults said they will not be able to have the number of children they desire. The total fertility rate in Nepal has plummeted to 2.1 births per woman — down from 5 just 30 years ago. This is considered replacement level, meaning the newborns will replace their parents.&nbsp; However, birth rates are not declining as rapidly everywhere. The Tarai in has a total fertility rate of 2.20, and northwestern mountains is still 2.24.&nbsp; There are multiple factors in play, and the report broadly divides them into four categories: health issues, economic concerns, fears about the future, and lack of a supportive partner or their absence. More than half of the respondents said finance, which includes unemployment and increased cost of housing, as well as parenthood, was a barrier to having children. “More and more people prefer one or two children at maximum. Many women also decide to have children at a much later age,” says Kamala Devi Lamichhane of Tribhuvan University. “The opportunity cost is far higher for women.” But there is also a cost for the country, as the National Population Policy notes. At the rate the total fertility rate is falling it will soon be below replacement level — meaning that in the next three decades Nepal will be confronted with an <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-future-is-older">ageing population</a>.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250714140740_bac3e5a284b69a77d97b3b99daf2e7fd3019bc48f1a399fb2771381c751d8291.png" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250714140740_bac3e5a284b69a77d97b3b99daf2e7fd3019bc48f1a399fb2771381c751d8291" data-rendition-name="original" width="1302" height="501" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis having fewer babies. Why?"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250714140740_251115b0a88d4e82be70245c43cb74477f3be18042ef1aa3b904c597d815f13b.png" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250714140740_251115b0a88d4e82be70245c43cb74477f3be18042ef1aa3b904c597d815f13b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1125" height="500" loading="lazy" alt="Nepalis having fewer babies. Why?"> </figure>  Besides income, there are also cultural factors at play in women having fewer babies — they are expected to do all the childcare duties, even putting their careers on hold. In general, there is little help from spouses, and with more nuclear families there is less support from relatives. “Women today are well educated, career-oriented, and economically independent, allowing them to delay marriage as well as being conscious about their body and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/nepal-far-from-hitting-contraceptive-target?%2F">reproductive rights</a>,” says Laxmi Tamang of the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM). Also present at the policy launch was demographer Yagya Bahadur Karki, who said that women are more educated and hence, empowered to take their own informed decisions regarding having children.&nbsp; He adds, “But the fertility rates have reached replacement rate, and that stands as a warning for the future.”&nbsp; Fertility rates have fallen in inverse proportion to the rise in female literacy. The regions of Nepal where couples have more babies is where women are less educated. Couples in Madhes and Sudur Paschim provinces, where child marriage, gender-based discrimination, menstrual huts and dowry are still widespread are where the fertility rate is still high.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250717120740_ababfd31ed5ff79ded427e1f1adfff02e6af2384bd541e51dfe05e52fbbccb39.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250717120740_ababfd31ed5ff79ded427e1f1adfff02e6af2384bd541e51dfe05e52fbbccb39" data-rendition-name="original" width="994" height="682" loading="lazy" alt="TFR Map"> </figure>  And because female literacy also has a direct correlation with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/fatal-discrimination">infant and child mortality</a>, couples in those regions tend to have more babies so some of them survive.&nbsp; But it is Nepal’s urban centres among the educated where the increased choices in reproductive health, including alternative methods of conception like IVF and treatment for infertility, as well as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/implant-service-providers-take-contraception-to-nepals-poor">contraceptives</a> offer more options for family planning. “There are more choices regarding reproductive health, and there is more awareness as well, which is why people decide carefully on whether or not to bear a child,” says population expert Yogendra Gurung. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/migrants-returning-from-the-gulf-with-infertility">Migration is another factor</a> adding to the decline in fertility rates. Many young Nepalis of reproductive age leave every day in pursuit of better jobs overseas. Spousal separation means fewer children.&nbsp; “Once away, even if not educated, they realise that child-rearing costs are high, and try to have fewer and even no children in some cases,” Gurung adds. Recent studies have also shown that men returning after their stint in the Gulf and Malaysia, where they are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/gulf-workers-need-protection-from-heat">exposed to extreme heat </a>for extended periods as well as various chemicals and toxins in their work environment &nbsp;have a range of health problems, including infertility. To increase the birth rate, Nepal will have to reverse its family planning strategy of the past 40 years. Complicating this is that some regions of Nepal will need measures to control the birth rate, while urban areas will need a strategy to help parents have more babies. One way to help families have more children is to develop more <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/future-proofing-nepal-s-population-strategy?s=04&amp;fbclid=IwY2xjawFQf-NleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHRxSwwGPfm7_2cBhDVAowPxEmFXP0Os-KRs1DXqIW_84wDhciExtZuNi1g_aem_jzRqN2cEVAppfwr5qedxRg">family-friendly policies</a> that favour women and youth as the Nordic countries, which also have falling birth rates, have done. They have introduced flexible parental leaves for both parents, including financial and health incentives. China, also concerned about its declining birth rate and an ageing population, now has a three-child policy as well as tax deductions, expanded childcare services, and leave policies to encourage couples to have more children. “We must work towards childbirth and childcare policies and plans that are suitable for Nepal, so that couples planning for children do not have to think twice about it because of finances or other reasons,” adds Gurung. Tamang of the International Confederation of Midwives says a gender transformative approach is needed to address the issues of the gender gap which is adding to the decline in childbirth. Husbands need to play a more important role in child-rearing. Instead of increasing fertility for the sake of it, the objective should be to assist young people to start the families they desire, at a point and time of their choice. Respect for everyone’s rights and dignity lays a foundation for a more balanced demographic trend. Lamichhane sums it up: “If fertility rates are to be sustained, it requires changes in the gender roles and behaviour, keeping the youth’s aspirations in mind.”

Nepalis are having fewer babies. Why?

Does anyone know that 2023-33 was declared the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/visit-nepal-again">Visit Nepal</a> Decade? Or that Pokhara announced that 2025 is a Special Tourism Year? The fuselage of Nepal Airlines jets still carry the Visit Nepal Year 2020 logos. Such ad hoc and unnoticed promotion is emblematic of the way Nepal has tried to increase visitor arrivals <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-hopes-for-tourism-rebound-in-2021-rk4dlo9t">post-Covid</a> — and of the country’s wider political disarray. Deepak Raj Joshi of the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) has his work cut out to coordinate various agencies of the government to boost arrivals.&nbsp; He says, “We have been working on marketing strategies to revive the tourism sector, and are hopeful that this year will mark a 8-10% increase in arrivals compared to the pre-pandemic times.” On paper, tourist numbers have rebounded to pre-Covid numbers with over 1 million last year, but official figures do not give a true picture of duration of stay, average spending, and the fact every visitor is counted as a ‘tourist’, even repeat visitors who come on business. The few bright spots are largely a result of private sector promotion of niche tourism products, individual social media posts of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/top-10-treks">adventurous treks in Nepal</a>, or the fact that Indians are allowed to enter China again to visit Lake Mansarovar and Mt Kailash via Nepal. Indeed, Simkot airport has up to 15 flights a day from Nepalganj bringing in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds">Indian pilgrims</a> who are then ferried by helicopter to the border in Hilsa, or Lapcha Pass from where the holy sites in Tibet are visible. The rudimentary hotels and rest houses along the route in Humla have been bursting at the seams for the past month, to the point that some establishments are no longer able to provide patrons basic amenities.&nbsp; Last year, 1.14 million tourists visited Nepal, and the government has projected up to 10% increase in tourist arrivals this year. International tourist arrivals to Nepal have been steadily increasing, especially from the US, Europe, and India. Domestic and regional travel has also increased after the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/lockdown-5-utlzqtvs">Covid lockdowns</a>.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250717120756_e1c8f08e7e26496d2b2394e0be776e147fb46c415347b781ed9e5c64d9c9e505.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250717120756_e1c8f08e7e26496d2b2394e0be776e147fb46c415347b781ed9e5c64d9c9e505" data-rendition-name="original" width="1145" height="668" loading="lazy" alt="Tourist numbers"> </figure>  The tourism industry employs at least 1 million people, trekking injects money directly into the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/not-rising-nepal">rural economy </a>and sustains ancillary sectors like handicrafts and domestic aviation. In the last fiscal year, tourism brought in Rs82.33 billion, according to Nepal Rastra Bank. But the industry has been affected by negative publicity about poor infrastructure, air pollution in Kathmandu, travel safety and news of disasters like the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rasuwa-flood-likely-a-glof">China-Nepal flood last week</a> that made international headlines. Growing worries about the climate crisis is also affecting youth travel, especially from Europe. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/missing-out-on-nepal-s-tourism-potential">Missing out on Nepal’s tourism potential</a> “The limitations of airport and road infrastructure has hindered the development of the tourism sector,” admits Joshi. “And many are put off by the appalling state of our road network, especially during <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/managing-the-monsoon">the monsoon season</a>.” Nepal is home to 20 protected areas, 10 heritage sites, and eight out of the world’s 10 highest mountains, and despite all the obstacles it is still the perfect destination for the modern social media savvy traveller, who are experience-driven and inclined to look for itineraries that emphasise wellness and cultural immersion.&nbsp; Some hotels around Kathmandu, Pokhara, Jomsom and the Khumbu have strived to adapt to this new tourism landscape, expanding facilities with significant international investment. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/business/a-thamel-within-thamel">Luxury hotels like Aloft Kathmandu</a> in Thamel were inaugurated just before the pandemic lockdowns, survived the crisis and thrived as it. Says General Manager Vikram Singh (pictured, below): “Our prime location in Thamel enhances the guest experience, especially for those seeking convenience and immersion in the local scene and travellers who want to be in the centre of it all.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071805070_8d29803e8b52bcd4439422e7b7a0bc25aa68ef3d227b9130bd0e079af626677d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="2025071805070_8d29803e8b52bcd4439422e7b7a0bc25aa68ef3d227b9130bd0e079af626677d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1066" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Aloft GM"> </figure>  <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-sustainable-tourism-means-in-practice">Sustainability </a>and environmental consciousness has also become an integral part of the hospitality industry. ISO certifications as well as sustainability initiatives like the Travelife sustainability certification for eco-friendly resorts validate credibility of hotels. Aloft is the first five-star hotel in Nepal to have earned the Waste Smart Certificate, and it has also been awarded the ISO 14001:2015 certification, which is the internationally recognised standard for environmental management systems (EMS). But such investments will not amount to much unless Nepal makes serious efforts to promote itself as a<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-tourism-in-2023-9ukoi8iz?utm="> tourism destination</a>, especially to its two giant neighbours. More importantly, the country needs to increase activities in which tourists can spend the money they want to. “While <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-pushes-mountain-bike-tourism?fbclid=IwAR1MNH0iFGv1vRz5G9uZ4AzUlKxB6nY7JKq0qT6je_FV4_SuxPZqviwKGn0">mountaineering and adventure tourism</a> are extensively promoted, we have fallen short of marketing other elements such as wildlife, pilgrimage and cultural heritage,” says Joshi. “There is a need to diversify promotion to increase income from the tourism sector.” Meanwhile, making Nepal more accessible to international and domestic visitors, must also be a priority. Kathmandu remains the sole aerial gateway despite new airports in Pokhara and Bhairawa. “International airlines have shown interest, and if access and flights are increased these airports can be fully functional,” says Joshi. But Sichuan Airlines has stopped flying to Pokhara, and there does not seem to be much interest from Thai, Vietnamese and Cambodian carriers to fly directly to Lumbini. Says Singh: “There’s tremendous opportunity to strengthen Nepal’s destination marketing by telling richer, more compelling stories that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/culture-cannot-be-an-afterthought">connect travellers with our culture</a>, nature, and people.”

Tourism needs a new push

Many of us former Nepal Peace Corps volunteers (PCVs) would agree that our time in Nepal changed in significant but very different ways our perspectives on life if not the future paths we chose to follow. Of no one was this truer than Dorothy Mierow. Dorothy was born in 1920, in Colorado Springs. Her father Charles C Mierow was a classics scholar and Latin professor, who served for ten years as president of Colorado College.&nbsp; Dorothy developed an interest in animals as a child, graduated with a BA degree in natural history from Carlton College in 1942, a Master’s in biology from the University of Pittsburgh, and another Master’s in geography from the University of Minnesota.&nbsp; As a young woman, Dorothy traveled with her father throughout Europe, including a visit to ancient Greek ruins, and took a Magellan Tour by cruise ship around the world in 1958.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_0bad133ab22aada319e74bbad95d563e191371db291c08f373839fbd15440262.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025071901074_0bad133ab22aada319e74bbad95d563e191371db291c08f373839fbd15440262" data-rendition-name="original" width="903" height="1178" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>HOME AWAY FROM HOME: Dorothy Mierow as a college student in her native Colorado.</figcaption> </figure>  She was a college teacher during much of the 1940s, also teaching at a girls’ school in Hawaii. Then back to her native Colorado in 1953, where she became a curator and later director of the Colorado College Natural History Museum. She taught geography classes, and in her free time, Dorothy climbed 22 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks. Traveling in India in 1960, Dorothy decided to spend two weeks in Nepal. In late 1961, she filled out an application to join the Peace Corps and specified that she wanted to go to Nepal, ‘because I admired the people so much when my father and I were there on our trip’.&nbsp; Dorothy reached Kathmandu in September 1962 as the first group of American Peace Corps volunteers in Nepal. She stood out from the others: one of the few women in that group, surely the oldest at age 41, a world traveler, and a woman who already had established a professional career.&nbsp; One doubts if Dorothy had had a husband and children whether she would ever have gone to work and spend much of the rest of her life in Nepal.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901078_68e84ade1ffb0f6c83c7f8fa5c1e7315b5f6c543217f96cde012e4d86f171515.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025071901078_68e84ade1ffb0f6c83c7f8fa5c1e7315b5f6c543217f96cde012e4d86f171515" data-rendition-name="original" width="1259" height="910" loading="lazy" alt="How th Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life NT"> <figcaption>Pokhara Bazar in 1962.</figcaption> </figure>  The Peace Corps assigned Dorothy to teach geography at Tri-Chandra College. After the school closed in the winter due to lack of heating, USAID and the College of Education asked Dorothy to help train general science teachers.&nbsp; She taught for two months and became involved in a textbook-writing project, commenting: ‘I would like the children to know something about public health, conservation (the trees are going fast and so is the soil), and learn the names of some of their common birds, trees, and flowers. They are more impressed with electricity, airplanes, and cell structure.’ When a new college opened in Pokhara in 1963, Dorothy was transferred there and lived with a Nepali family. The college boasted 30 students and no permanent buildings.&nbsp; In October 1963, Dorothy wrote: ‘Pokhara is a town of almost 5,000 people … We are in a fertile valley surrounded by foothills … There is a small Mission Hospital … a Leper Hospital and Tibetan Refugee Camp started by the Red Cross and now run by the Swiss. With winter approaching, more Tibetans are appearing in town, often with pack horses or donkeys. Some have been carrying large boxes of powdered milk,donated (by USAID) to the camp from the airport … There is no electricity, and the transportation problems make many items scarce and expensive. I am really a sort of a museum. The landlord brings all kinds of people in to see how I live and count my shoes and dresses. They express amazement at my books, pictures, tin oven, Nepali dolls from Kathmandu, screened food shelves and curtained closet.’ The standard term for Peace Corps volunteers was two years, but Dorothy extended her term and was still at Prithvi Narayan College at the end of 1965, when she wrote that she had 20 Geography students in the first-year class and 6 in the second year preparing for the IA Examination. The college enrollment was 125 students, and the foundation for a new science building was being excavated.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_c6a80e5e0db0c705b2f8733c6d30dc0386fe3abbd2238ea9d947b7d746f94a29.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025071901074_c6a80e5e0db0c705b2f8733c6d30dc0386fe3abbd2238ea9d947b7d746f94a29" data-rendition-name="original" width="902" height="605" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>Mierow and friends at Phewa Lake.</figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy noted that she ate one meal a day at the (Shining Mission) Hospital but otherwise lived on dal-bhat, momo, and potato curry at local shops. However, she had developed a new passion: to build what she initially called the Pokhara Museum of the Himalaya. In commendable Peace Corps fashion, Dorothy always worked with Nepalis and respected the culture. ‘The greatest joy and satisfaction I have had has been from the building of a Museum-Library in memory of my parents … It has been possible to feel like a wealthy benefactor with the money saved by father for the family’s education and now available for the education of others… (Father) would have loved to be in on the founding of a new college and be able to plan a library. Several hundred of the books to be in the museum-library came from his collection and were carefully selected to be of use for students in Nepal…’&nbsp; ‘The museum part is to satisfy my own inclinations and was thought of when I found how little diversion there was for the people of Pokhara… It is part of the University requirements for the college that it should have a geography and biology museum. The museum building is small but adequate.&nbsp; I have tried to design it in harmony with Nepalese architecture and decorate it with some of the art of the best artists or woodcarvers… Posts holding up the porch roof are carved by Cottage Industries to represent different peoples of Nepal in typical costumes. The door was carved by a local wood carver and has typical birds of Nepal around it. Inside are 10 roof-support carvings designed by the retired Director of the National Museum in Kathmandu, Mr. C.M. Maskey.&nbsp; They were carved by the best wood carvers in Patan very skilfully. The building has three rooms: the library, the exhibition room, and a smaller workroom which can be used by our newly formed Woman’s Club as well as other groups or classes.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_03d3359c65389d30a0134e9a4862778994121e7e833b7d28b18e06e36fc76ff8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2025071901074_03d3359c65389d30a0134e9a4862778994121e7e833b7d28b18e06e36fc76ff8" data-rendition-name="original" width="629" height="599" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>Mierow with local women in Pokhara in 1969.</figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy promoted her project to influential Nepalis connected with organisations whose support she solicited: The Department of Archaeology, the Department of Agriculture, the Godavari Botanical Gardens; Tribhuvan University’s Science and Education Department, Nature Conservation Society.&nbsp; The museum was opened officially in early 1967. The Annapurna Natural History Museum, the building Dorothy designed and had constructed, is still open and features some exhibits which she created many years ago.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_54326a8a0685e980e782378076de2f5cd02d2426e9b0d94eed972d3dbe83af26.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025071901074_54326a8a0685e980e782378076de2f5cd02d2426e9b0d94eed972d3dbe83af26" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>The Annapurna Natural History Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy returned to America in 1967, but she longed for Nepal. In the spring of 1969, she again tried to enroll as a Peace Corps volunteer but was told that as she had spent more than four years, she would not be eligible for another assignment. Undeterred, she persuaded the college in Pokhara to invite her to return as a teacher.&nbsp; UNICEF and the Forestry Department sponsored Dorothy to prepare charts on trees, birds, animals and flowers in colour for distribution to the schools of Nepal. Dorothy, back in the Peace Corps, returned to Pokhara and the Museum in 1972. She formed a friendship with her former geography student from Sikles, Chandra Prasad Gurung, and in 1974, she brought Chandra to America, where he enrolled in Colorado College and studied cultural anthropology.&nbsp; Chandra subsequently earned his PhD in geography from the University of Hawaii and returned to Pokhara to become director of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project. Gurung actively promoted ecotourism, landscape conservation, and biodiversity conservation in Nepal. His life was cut short along with those of 23 other Nepalis and foreigners who perished in a helicopter crash near Taplejung in September 2006.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_322d3c3ac6f1b08ffa07c44a19998b937a7db9eb43527f7539cf6481e1546314.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2025071901074_322d3c3ac6f1b08ffa07c44a19998b937a7db9eb43527f7539cf6481e1546314" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>Mierow's four books on Nepal and its biodiversity. </figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy worked with several well-known Nepalis to publish her paintings and photos in beautifully illustrated books. She and Hemanta Mishra of the National Parks and Wildlife Service wrote Wild Animals of Nepal (Ratna Pustak Bhandar, 1976). More than 400 photos Dorothy took on treks to the Everest region, Gosaikunda, Muktinath, Jumla and Rara Lake, as well as travels in the Tarai, appeared in Himalayan Flowers and Trees (Sahayogi Prakashan, 1978).&nbsp; The botanist Tirtha Bahadur Shrestha identified the species. Dorothy and Kesar Lall published This Beautiful Nepal (Sahayogi Press, 1981). Birds of the Central Himalayas (1988) contained Dorothy’s paintings of 250 species of birds found along the areas of the Kali Gandaki River, Pokhara, Chitwan and the central Tarai. Dorothy summed up her life and work in Nepal in Thirty Years in Pokhara (Pilgrims Book House, 1997). Dorothy returned to Pokhara and her adopted Gurung family several times during the 1980s and 1990s to celebrate festivals and meet old friends. Her final years were spent at her mountain cottage in Green Mountain Falls north of Colorado Springs. She died at the age of 79 in August, 2000. Nepal gave new meaning and purpose to Dorothy Mierow’s life. Daniel W Edwards was a Peace Corps volunteer in 1966 and is the author of several books on Nepal. The author thanks Special Collections, Tutt Library, Colorado College.

How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer’s life

Local residents of Mustang, including a sitting MP and several politicians, submitted a petition to Prime Minister KP Oli in Kathmandu this week urging the government to lift the region’s ‘restricted’ status. This is not the first time such a demand has been raised, and as infrastructure the region’s accessibility improved over the years, calls to remove the long-standing restriction have grown louder.&nbsp; Upper Mustang is no longer weeks away <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/postcards-from-kathmandu">from Kathmandu.</a> Nearly 85% of the road from Beni to Kagbeni has been blacktopped, and one can drive from Kathmandu to Lo Manthang with an overnight stop in Pokhara. Between April 2024 and April 2025, Lower Mustang received 144,745 international tourists, a near 50% increase compared to the previous year. Most of these were <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds">Indian pilgrims </a>travelling to Muktinath. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a> is also gaining popularity among Nepali visitors, with 700,000 visiting the region in 2024. A hotel operator in Kagbeni estimated that about 20% of Nepali visitors to Muktinath also travel to Korala, the trade and transit checkpoint on the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/north-of-the-border">China border</a>. That would mean that nearly 100,000 domestic tourists visit Upper Mustang annually. In stark contrast, international tourist numbers to Upper Mustang (north of Kagbeni) have remained stagnant, hovering around 4,000 visitors per year. The primary reason is the continued enforcement of the region’s restricted status. Foreign visitors must pay a steep permit fee: a minimum of $500 for 10 days, with an additional $50 per day thereafter. Tourism some entrepreneurs, politicians, and residents want these fees to be abolished so Upper Mustang can attract a broader range of international travellers. The success of Lower Mustang, where relaxed restrictions have led to a<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/boom-time-in-central-tarai"> tourism boom</a>, is often cited as proof of what lifting restrictions could achieve. Upper Mustang is not the only region in Nepal with a restricted status. Several northern areas prefixed with ‘Upper’ (Upper Manaslu, Upper Dolpo, Upper Kanchenjunga, and Upper Arun) also need similar permits and fees. Although no clear official explanation exists, these areas were primarily restricted due to historical inaccessibility, ecological and cultural fragility and security concerns. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/upper-mustang-opposes-prohibited-areas">Call to scrap Upper Mustang tourist fee</a> In the 1960s and 1970s, these remote regions served as shelters for Khampa guerrilla fighters who launched cross border ambushes on the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-last-days-of-the-khampa">Chinese military </a>across the border.&nbsp; Though the Khampa have long gone, security concerns rooted in that era seem to persist. The government in Kathmandu is seemingly unaware of the changed political and security landscape. If concerns do remain, they are not made public. One of the main reasons for maintaining the restricted designation is to limit visitor numbers. But with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-road-out-of-nepal">improved road access and services</a>, as Upper Mustang has seen, this justification no longer holds. When Upper Mustang first opened to international tourists in 1992, it had no formal lodges or hotels, and it took four to five days of trekking from Jomsom to Lo Manthang.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250716120744_4e4405cf10e6f127f90a1cd40feda0b9d8d69efd13093a2563530ca31489ba9f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250716120744_4e4405cf10e6f127f90a1cd40feda0b9d8d69efd13093a2563530ca31489ba9f" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="509" loading="lazy" alt="Lift restrictions on Upper Mustang"> <figcaption>Photo: DINESH SHRESTHA</figcaption> </figure>  Without a nechyang (a household with traditional friendship), it was difficult to find a place to stay or get a proper meal. Only a few elite households offered accommodation. Today, there are now more than 80 lodges and hotels above Kagbeni, spread across nearly every village. Several upmarket hotels now struggle to stay afloat during the off-season, relying on low-spending domestic visitors to survive. Lo Manthang, once a remote destination, is now just a few hours’ drive from Jomsom, easily reachable by lunchtime for early starters. Once the remaining road sections are blacktopped, travel time will be further reduced. Yet, the government still charges a flat $500 fee for a 10-day permit based on outdated &nbsp;assumptions from a bygone era. There has been no serious review of the permit structure to align with current realities, nor any response to local aspirations to attract more international tourists and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-tourism-in-2023-9ukoi8iz">harness tourism for economic development</a>. Concerns about over tourism are valid. There is a risk that increasing visitor numbers could erode Upper Mustang’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-million-mantras-in-mustang">cultural heritage</a>, social fabric, and fragile natural environment, precisely the features that make it special. However, the region’s 33 years of tourism experience have been largely positive.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250716120744_5c7e5e05097cd0e5a1027b51c7e3db3be0bd67e0f7cbaea6d2c447b1dacafc8a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20250716120744_5c7e5e05097cd0e5a1027b51c7e3db3be0bd67e0f7cbaea6d2c447b1dacafc8a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="1050" loading="lazy" alt="Lift restrictions on Upper Mustang"> <figcaption>Photo: MUKESH POKHREL / NT ARCHIVE</figcaption> </figure>  Tourism has contributed significantly to the restoration and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-history-of-heritage?%2F">preservation of religious and historical sites</a> like the Thubchen and Jampa monasteries in Lo Manthang, the ongoing conversion of the old palace in Ghami into a premium hotel, and the rehabilitation of many monasteries and chortens.&nbsp; These efforts, supported by international donors and heritage experts, demonstrate that tourism—when well managed—can be a powerful driver of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/shrinking-tourism-s-ecological-footprint">conservation</a>. The high permit fees have been somewhat effective in limiting international visitors, but they have no influence on the growing number of domestic tourists, particularly during the Dasain and Tihar holidays. The most pressing need now is for all levels of government—federal, provincial, and local—to<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/why-invest-in-nepal"> invest in </a>managing tourist flows and maintaining tourist sites. These efforts are essential not only to enhance visitor experience but also to build long-term resilience and sustainability for the destination. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/greening-nepal-s-tourism">Greening Nepal’s tourism</a>, Hanna Wells Visitor numbers are central to any tourism development strategy that aims to balance economic, social, and environmental goals. Clinging to obsolete policies and concerns to justify Upper Mustang’s restricted status is not only unfair, it also suggests an undemocratic and discriminatory attitude toward a remote district.&nbsp; Shailendra Thakali, PhD, is from Jomsom and is a freelance consultant on protected areas, tourism, conservation, and sustainable livelihoods.