In Bhutan, this is one sentence one hears often: “We are learning from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/now-the-economy-stupid">Nepal’s mistakes.</a>” Considering lack of political accountability and chronic incompetence of the past decades, Nepal indeed sets an example of what not to do. But Nepal has not forcibly evicted one sixth of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-population-to-cross-30-million">its population</a> like Bhutan did in the early 1990s. More than 100,000 <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mindfulness-about-bhutan-s-refugees">refugees </a>were transported across India to Nepal and lived for over 15 years in camps in eastern Nepal. Most have since been resettled in third countries, but there are still about 6,000 elderly refugees who want to return to their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/searching-for-a-homeland-away-from-home">homeland</a>. This history has strained relations between the two Himalayan nations which share many of the same socio-economic, geopolitical and environmental challenges. Despite the asymmetry in size and population between Bhutan and Nepal, there is <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/missing-out-on-nepal-s-tourism-potential">untapped potentia</a>l for them to learn more from each other and cooperate.&nbsp; Both have abundant <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-new-national-natural-resources-and-fiscal-commission">natural resources</a> and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/pump-water-store-energy">clean energy sources</a>, both are sandwiched between two giant emerging global powers. Nepal and Bhutan also struggle with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/staying-home-to-create-jobs">creating enough jobs at home</a> and prevent <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/guest-editorial/the-migration-myth">mass outmigration</a> of their youth. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/guest-column/nepal-in-the-new-world-order">Nepal in the new world order</a>, Dhirendra Nalbo Bhutan’s defence and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/no-binary-foreign-policy?fb_comment_id=3583384368393672_3586424038089705">foreign policy </a>are handled by New Delhi, and there is a heavy presence of the Indian Army along Bhutan’s border with China, especially along the disputed Doklam region. Nepal is nominally more independent, and has tried to steer equidistant relations with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/india-china-rail-race">India and China</a>. Bhutan generates 2,326MW of electricity from plants built mostly by Indian companies and half this power is exported to India. The government’s Druk Holdings and Investment is looking to harness an additional 15,000MW of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-1st-hydroelectric-plant-is-a-museum-piece">hydroelectric</a> and 5,000MW solar power for which it will need over $25 billion in investments. There seems to be an acceptance among Bhutan’s officials that this is <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-geopolitics-of-nepal-s-politics">the geopolitical reality</a>, and the country has to live with exclusive <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-india-power-play">Indian involvement </a>in its energy planning.&nbsp; Nepal pursued a different path in developing hydropower, with private producers and international investors generating nearly 70% of electricity in the country. But India has gradually asserted itself in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepals-hydropower-goes-international?fbclid=IwAR1bfKP8flv5RQTnYALhmupWQH2hKL_BKiuylbGogpIbCd-dwY1goNvYsUY_aem_ASFlf8dMv3b2J0BWfSJITaR74lDt3yxH9t8Cg-eYZxRLLOS_dVwJwMTXqK7nxD6tfvI&amp;mibextid=Zxz2cZ">Nepal’s hydropower development</a> by sidelining Chinese involvement, and pressuring Nepal not to allow outside investment in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/reservoirs-of-suspicion/hydropower-geopolitics%20,3991">large reservoir projects</a> on its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-revenge-of-the-rivers">rivers</a>. The cascade of three out of four big hydropower plants in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/upper-arun-question-mark">Arun Basin</a> in eastern Nepal are all being built by an Indian state enterprise, more or less along the same model as Indian projects in Bhutan.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025022812024_ac6cf08607ee0873bb4f82e19d0917050c73b7efa8e7c3912525a3cd2efa85f0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_19" data-image-id="2025022812024_ac6cf08607ee0873bb4f82e19d0917050c73b7efa8e7c3912525a3cd2efa85f0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="1439" loading="lazy" alt="Photo: GMC"> </figure>  “We are a 100% hydro energy portfolio with about 2.5GW installed capacity with about another 1.5 GW in the pipeline in the next year or so,” says Ujjwal Deep Dahal, CEO of Druk Holdings and Investment. “While we are a net exporter of energy over a year, winter demands are increasing and we look to invest for additional power and importantly firm power.” Nepal also imports power from India in winter when its rivers are running low and demand is highest, but this is at a more expensive price than it exports during the rest of the year. Ecological and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/agroecology-nepal-s-answer-to-climate-change">climate concerns</a> are prompting Bhutan to diversify from harnessing hydropower to explore pump storage, geothermal and solar power – a model that Nepal could also pursue. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/pump-water-store-energy">Pump water, store energy</a>, Dipak Gyawali and Sudhindra Sharma While tensions between India and China affect Bhutan more than Nepal, Kathmandu has failed to adopt a more independent water and energy strategy. Despite being four times larger than Bhutan, Nepal has only 3,3000MW of installed capacity. It has also failed to increase domestic demand by electrifying industries, irrigation, transport and household consumption so surplus energy is not wasted. Nepal’s goal is to generate 28,000MW by 2035 but transmission and distribution infrastructure will have to keep pace. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-great-game-2nd-half">suspension of the US-supported MCC project </a>may further delay energy trade and distribution. Climate collapse is rapidly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/himalayan-icecap-melting-faster-than-thought">melting Himalayan glaciers</a>, and it is going to be risky building large expensive hydropower plants in Nepal and Bhutan. Both countries must learn from a glacial lake outburst flood in 2023 that swept away the 1,200MW Teesta III Projectin Sikkim, a $1.7 billion dam. In Nepal, the $800 million <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-monsoon-mess-in-melamchi">Melamchi Water Supply Project </a>for Kathmandu Valley was severely damaged in a flood in 2021. The eastern Himalaya in Nepal, Bhutan, India and southern Tibet are affected more severely by glacial lake expansion, and combined with seismicity post a major threat to energy security in the region. “We cannot predict disasters like these but we can’t also be fatalistic, we need to be pragmatic and strike the right balance,” says Pema Gyamtsho from Bhutan, and director general of Kathmandu-based ICIMOD (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development). “We have to invest in risk assessment before developing mega infrastructure. Where the risk is high, we should opt for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/small-is-still-possible">smaller hydropower and other alternatives like solar and biogas</a>. We should have options rather than putting all our eggs in the same basket.” <h2>GDP, GNH, GMC</h2> Bhutan’s audacious Gelephu Mindfulness City mega-project is a risky gamble on the future&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025022812020_64d59d3ca75b44983167c70ba340afa56b1f88e4b6807605101bed4671abe198.jpg" data-media-id="editor_26" data-image-id="2025022812020_64d59d3ca75b44983167c70ba340afa56b1f88e4b6807605101bed4671abe198" data-rendition-name="original" width="1778" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Small Bhutan dreams big NT"> <figcaption>Rendering of a section of the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), which is currently under development. Photo: GMC</figcaption> </figure>  On 17 December 2023, Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck announced the setting up of the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC) to be an international hub focused on energy, connectivity and skills for the 21st century.&nbsp; The city will be a 2,500 sq km Special Administrative Region to take advantage of Bhutan’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-can-lead-in-zero-carbon">clean energy</a> to power an information technology corridor with AI data centres. It will try to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/turning-nepal-into-singapore">replicate Singapore</a> in a city three times larger, with its own hydropower plants generating 5,000MW.&nbsp; “Gelephu will become a gateway connecting Bhutan to the world and the future,” the King said. “The road we have chosen is a gateway to the world – to markets, capital, new ideas, knowledge, and technology towards our future, and to chart our destiny.”&nbsp; The rapid spread of energy-intensive <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/people-power/nepal-as-an-ai-power-bank">generative AI applications</a> have prompted technology companies to scout for clean energy sources to power their data centres. Some like Amazon and Google are even building their own small nuclear power plants.&nbsp; “Investing in green energy with our hydro potential of over 35,000MW is a priority and the strategy on AI data centres are an important anchor industry,” says Ujjwal Deep Dahal of Druk Holdings and Investment. Bhutan’s Finance Minister Lyonpo Lekey Dorji told visiting editors here earlier this month that energy cooperation under the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) were going nowhere, and a new framework was needed. “Significant connectivity challenges, poor infrastructure, and often tense diplomatic relations lead to limited cross-border trade and movements of goods and people,” Dorji added. “The GMC is envisaged to help not only Bhutan but also the South Asian region, and particularly the neighbouring states of India.”&nbsp; Economists say that if countries in the region could go beyond geopolitical differences and increase trade, each country in South Asia stands to gain from the regional energy trade. While Nepal and Bhutan have export potential for clean energy, Bangladesh can reduce its carbon footprint by buying cleaner fuel from neighbours. “There are significant benefits if you increase investment in transmission across the region, increase connectivity, with more liberal trade,” says Simon Stolp of the World Bank. In the first phase, the GMC will build infrastructure including an international airport, and a regional railway linking Gelephu to Assam with a six-lane highway. Bhutan is one of few carbon negative countries in the world, and officials assure that 60% of the GMC area will retain its forest cover with two protected areas, a national park and a wildlife sanctuary. The Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has been hired to come up with a sustainable urban plan.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025022812020_f9e04d55bb349a64031f8133b0ad0f38dbe608f00070cb8d62dd2cab22bf1bb3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_30" data-image-id="2025022812020_f9e04d55bb349a64031f8133b0ad0f38dbe608f00070cb8d62dd2cab22bf1bb3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="590" loading="lazy" alt="Small Bhutan dreams big NT"> </figure>  GMC is also Bhutan’s response to the increasing outmigration of its young people, primarily to Australia — a problem similar to what Nepal faces.&nbsp; Youth unemployment in Bhutan in 2022 was 28.6%, and in 2023, 1.5% of the country’s 800,000 people moved just to Australia to work and study. Bhutan has a total fertility rate of 1.4, which is much below replacement level. These demographic trends have raised questions about Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness (GNH) approach to development. It has been hailed as a new age concept by some and ridiculed by others, especially because the regime has never answered for the eviction of one-sixth of its population in the 1990s (box).&nbsp; In that sense, the GMC could be Bhutan’s way of turning the page on GNH. Officials here said privately that Gross National Happiness has been largely misunderstood to be an idealistic dream, but it does not mean de-emphasising economic growth or GDP per capita. In the first 20 years, the Gelephu Special Administrative Region will be a ‘mindfulness city’ under complete autonomy with a legislative, judicial and governance system independent from the rest of Bhutan. After that will be the ‘convergence phase’, when the rest of Bhutan will have caught up with Gelephu in terms of development and socio-economic status. Gelephu was chosen for the mega-project because of the narrow strip of plains in a mostly mountainous country. This will make it easier to build infrastructure, especially the proposed new international airport which will be an alternative to Paro in which only specially trained pilots are allowed to land because of difficult terrain and weather.&nbsp; “GMC represents a new era for growth and opportunity for Bhutan, a bold experiment in &nbsp;governance, sustainability and economic transformation, all the while preserving Bhutanese identity, cultural and spiritual heritage,” explained GMC’s Rabsel Dorji. “We have the unprecedented opportunity to build a Special Administrative Region from the ground up, and for Bhutanese this is a nation-building experience.” Officials say that GMC needed to be a Special Administrative Region in order to speed things up, including decision-making so there would be no <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/bureaucratic-hurdles-in-researching-nepals-bureaucracy">bureaucratic hurdles</a> to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/why-there-is-no-foreign-investment-in-nepal">foreign investments</a>.&nbsp; But will such a separate ‘state’ not create a gap between haves and have nots, much like other parts of the world which have set up Special Economic Zones? Officials here are convinced that since GMC is the brainchild of King Jigme himself, it will succeed without compromising Bhutan's culture. Bhutan lies in the emerging economic corridor between South Asia and Southeast Asia, which has close to half of the world’s population. The idea is that with better connectivity, GMC will be strategically located to attract investors, residents and retirees.&nbsp; Planners here hope this will also replenish Bhutan’s shrinking population and allow just GMC to accommodate up to 2 million people — more than double Bhutan’s current population. Bhutan has the third highest GDP per capita in South Asia after the Maldives and Sri Lanka because of income from hydropower and tourism. It now wants to build on this for future growth with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/putting-nepal-on-the-right-track?fbclid=IwAR2NwzuRGlfxnbjoMcTWRTlRMwXlRuTRA45k-lpnXQoZ1lxl5mBrow9YU08">clean energy and connectivity</a>. &nbsp; Added Rabsel Dorji: “The quality of life in Bhutan is very good but one could say <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/not-rising-nepal">the standard of living</a> could improve. With the GMC, we are trying to mix the two such that people have <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-qatar-job-mirage">high-paying jobs</a> while retaining the Bhutanese way of life.” &nbsp; <h2>The Gelephu connection</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025022812020_df5f1c680b18261d89a005da0e4eaca4877909738ae691285e745b562558116e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_36" data-image-id="2025022812020_df5f1c680b18261d89a005da0e4eaca4877909738ae691285e745b562558116e" data-rendition-name="original" width="946" height="599" loading="lazy" alt="Small Bhutan dreams big NT"> <figcaption>Bhutan Refugee Camp in Beldangi-2 in Jhapa district, Nepal.</figcaption> </figure>  Situated along Bhutan’s southern border with India at a point where the mountains meet the Brahmaputra plains, Gelephu was home to some 40% of the country’s 100,000 Nepali-speaking Lhotsampa people. Many of their family members were forcefully evicted from Bhutan over 30 years ago. Rights activists have opposed the GMC project, especially since many of the refugees still have land titles for property they left behind in Gelephu. People from Nepal were first invited by the Bhutan government to populate the lowlands in the south from the mid-19th century onwards. Over time, Nepali-speaking people accounted for one-sixth of the population of Bhutan, and were relatively better off because of their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-wards-off-evil-spirits">agrarian lifestyle</a> in the fertile southern plains.&nbsp; ‘However, their growing numbers and the formation of a political party were perceived as a threat to the cultural and political order of Bhutan,’ notes Human Rights Watch in an explainer.&nbsp; The Lhotsampa ('people from the south') were driven across India and dumped in Jhapa and Morang from 1990-92. They lived in refugee camps until they were resettled in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and some European countries between 2007-2016.&nbsp; Now, 6,577 refugees, most of them elderly who want to go back to Bhutan, remain in the camps even after UNHCR and WFP withdrew support in 2016. Back in Gelephu, there is still a township of 15,000 people. One of the families there is that of a Bhutanese sociologist. In a carefully worded reply, he told us in Thimphu: “All of my childhood memories will soon be gone, but perhaps it is for the greater good.”&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mindfulness-about-bhutan-s-refugees">Mindfulness about Bhutan’s refugees</a>, Archana Darji&nbsp;

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Small Bhutan Dreams Big

Bhutan is planning an ambitious urban development project at Gelephu bordering India. But some of that land belongs to people the Bhutan regime evicted 30 years ago, and they have land titles to prove it.
The new city called <a href="https://gmc.bt/" target="_blank">Gelephu Mindfulness City</a> is supposed to integrate development with sustainability and wellbeing, and is being proposed as a way for Bhutan to spur economic growth, create jobs and curb outmigration.
However, the city that is planned to accommodate more people than the present 790,000 population of Bhutan is being built in an area where Bhutan’s Nepali-speaking Lhotsampa people used to farm and live.
Nearly 100,000 Lhotsampa <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/japan-award-for-bhutan-minister-opposed" target="_blank">were forced out of Bhutan</a> in 1990-92 (one-sixth of the population at the time), drive across India and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18150#.YN1-Ny8RoWr" target="_blank">dumped in Nepal</a> where they have lived in seven refugee camps supervised by the United Nations and other charities.&nbsp;
By 2008, the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Bhutanese-refugees-resettlement-program-ending-in-2018,4121" target="_blank">refugee population</a> had swelled to 120,000 and with the help of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) they were settled in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and some <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/from-the-himalaya-to-holland" target="_blank">European countries</a>.
But about 6,577 stateless people from Bhutan <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/no-one-to-care-for-doctor-who-cared-for-everyone" target="_blank">still remain in eastern Nepal </a>where the <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/hardships-multiply-older-refugees-amid-covid-19-pandemic" target="_blank">UNCHR</a> and World Food Programme (WFP) have withdrawn all support since 2016. At least 40% of them are said to be from Gelephu. Eleven of the households even have their land holding titles. About 2,000 of them do not have any refugee papers.
Many of the refugees <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp" target="_blank">who remain are elderly or infirm</a> who hope one day to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/real-refugees-want-to-go-back-to-bhutan" target="_blank">return too Bhutan</a>, or they missed out on the third-country settlement because they did not have registration papers.&nbsp;
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rot-at-the-top" target="_blank">After a scandal last year</a> in which senior government officials were implicated in a scheme to cheat about 900 Nepalis to pay money for fake refugee papers for settlement in the US, the Nepal government has stopped issuing travel documents even to genuine refugees.
‘’These refugees have been deprived of education, healthcare, food and housing, they are left to fend for themselves engaging in menial work in the informal sector,’ the group <a href="https://www.devex.com/organizations/south-asians-for-human-rights-sahr-137163" target="_blank">South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR)</a> states after a monitoring visit to Jhapa district in eastern Nepal.
SAHR has called on the Nepal government to provide the refugees with ID cards and travel documents so they can visit family members settled abroad. It also wants the refugees to be allowed to work legally in Nepal, and grant citizenship to the children born in refugee camps.&nbsp;
A delegation from SAHR met Nepal government officials in Kathmandu this week, and were reportedly given assurances that the problems of the remaining refugees would be looked into.
Rights groups like Amnesty International and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/03/13/bhutan-free-long-term-political-prisoners" target="_blank">Human Rights Watch</a> have also drawn international attention to Lhotsampa political prisoners who have been <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/political-prisoners-languish-in-bhutan-s-jails" target="_blank">languishing in Chemgang Jail in Bhutan</a>. A US Department of State report in 2016 had said 57 people had been detained under the National Security Act.
Many are those who protested in the early 1990s and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/no-country-for-dissent" target="_blank">have now been in prison for three decades</a>, while others were jailed after entering Bhutan to visit family members still there. One prisoner has spent 43 years behind bars at Chemgang.
The ICRC which had been allowed biannual visits to the prisons has not been given permission since the pandemic, and most news about those in jail and teir condition has been provided by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/prisoners-of-conscience-languish-in-bhutan-jails" target="_blank">prisoners recently released </a>because of poor health due to torture and inhumane conditions.
SAHR has called upon the Bhutan regime to release all political prisoners, allow ICRC visits, and also to take back its citizens who want to return. It has also called upon UNHCR and other international relief organisations to support the Nepal government in providing facilities for remaining refugees.
SAHR was founded in 2000 by former Indian Prime Minister I K Gujral, and is currently headed by Sri Lankan activist Radhika Coomaraswamy.

Mindfulness about Bhutan’s refugees

For two decades, more than 100,000 refugees driven out of Bhutan lived in camps in Morang and Jhapa districts of Nepal.&nbsp; Bhutan's Lhotshampa Nepali-speaking ethnic community faced an uncertain future after Thimphu refused to take them back, and Nepal struggled with the growing responsibility of hosting such a large refugee population. In 2008, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) launched its largest-ever resettlement program to address this humanitarian need, relocating the refugees across eight nations. The United States took 85% of the total, while much smaller numbers went to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Norway, Denmark, and 355 found a new home here in The Netherlands. From countries with the highest mountains in the world, they had come to the lowest-lying country, and the resettlement has been considered a success, thanks partly to the tailored cultural and skills training offered, easing both cultural adaptation and economic integration.&nbsp; The people from Bhutan in The Netherlands are well-integrated, with many contributing actively to the Dutch economy. Ten entrepreneurs from Bhutan have opened or franchised ‘I Love Sushi’ restaurants, while others moved on to set up their own establishments.&nbsp; At least seven run Indian restaurants across the country (below). Industrial cities like Zaandam and Raalte have become a hub for those from Bhutan resettled here. Some youngsters are engineers, others are pursuing higher studies at Dutch universities. Despite the success of the resettlement program, challenges remain. Roughly 7,000 of the refugees, mostly the elderly, still live in Nepal, hoping one day to go back to their homeland.&nbsp; The corruption scandal in Nepal in 2023 in which senior government officials and human traffickers were convicted for trying to smuggle Nepalis to the United States on fake refugee certificates in return for up to Rs5 million each, cast a heavy shadow over the community. “The impact of this scandal on genuine Bhutanese refugees is profound,” human rights activist Ram Karki told us (see profile below). “It further eroded their trust in the host government and hope for a better future.”&nbsp; Due to ongoing legal proceedings against those involved, refugees still left in the camps do not have access to relief supplies.&nbsp; Karki adds, “Their 5-year refugee identity cards have yet to be renewed, and their travel abroad has been halted as the Nepal government has stopped issuing travel documents.” &nbsp;&nbsp; <h2>Lalit and Mamta</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241123021156_63f5e4cb9de7b2189cb4b97eeda818a1c5e13774b4765a3f2cbac3887ae50ccf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241123021156_63f5e4cb9de7b2189cb4b97eeda818a1c5e13774b4765a3f2cbac3887ae50ccf" data-rendition-name="original" width="960" height="1280" loading="lazy" alt="From the Himalaya to Holland"> <figcaption>Photo: UTTAM KAFLE</figcaption> </figure>  Diners had filled up the terrace of Mamta Indian Tandoori &amp; Curry Restaurant on the lakeside of Harderwijk one recent unusually warm evening. A group of young Dutch guests were celebrating a bachelors' party with drinks and snacks. A family visiting the City Museum ordered curry, rice and nan. An elderly couple asked for wine and a plate of samosa. Restaurant owners Lalit and Mamta Basnet were busy preparing the orders. &nbsp; Visitors checking out the menu could be excused for thinking Mamta is a typical Indian tandoori restaurant. But Lalit and Mamta are refugees from Bhutan who spent 15 years in camps in Nepal before being resettled in The Netherlands two decades ago.&nbsp; They have built a successful &nbsp;business in a popular lakeside area of Gelderland province, and they are not the only successful refugees from Bhutan based here.&nbsp; Lalit was 12 years old when his family was evicted from Bhutan, and taken in Indian lorries to the Nepal border and dumped there. &nbsp; “My dad came to fetch me from the hostel I was staying in,” Lalit recalls. “We were packed into trucks with other villagers and taken across the Nepal border to Kakarbhita. I had no clue what was going on, and actually enjoyed the adventure.” But soon Lalit’s excitement turned into anxiety, he was among tens of thousands Lhotshampa forcibly removed from Bhutan in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and housed in refugee camps in Nepal's Jhapa and Morang districts.&nbsp; “I first stayed in Maidhar camp. Many people died there from disease,” Lalit relates. “We would see dead bodies being carried away to the river for cremation. We felt we could all die at any time – I still feel traumatised by that.”&nbsp; Lalit's family was later moved to Beldangi III camp where conditions improved because of aid from agencies like Caritas, LWF Nepal, Nepal Red Cross Society, Save the Children, and UNHCR.&nbsp; Lalit and Mamta met in Class 8 at a refugee school. They fell in love, but she was going through a hard time because both her parents had died from lack of medical care. Mamta says, “My siblings and I were raised by our aunt and grandmother. We had no idea what our future would be like.” Thanks to a scholarship from LWF Nepal, Lalit received a good education. Most other refugees could not go to school outside the camps because they needed citizenship papers.&nbsp; Lalit ended up as an asylum seeker in The Netherlands in 2004, and started out in Zwolle with a good support network and free language classes.&nbsp; When Mamta joined a year later, he worked as a cook at an Indian restaurant. Their two sons are also in Holland, one has now started a company for kitchen renovations and the other is in medical school. Once their language skills improved, the couple registered their own company. At that time refugees could apply for an interest-free loan of €35,000, to be paid back in five years.&nbsp; Lalit did some market research and found that Harderwijk, a historical Hanseatic town with an impressive waterfront, would be their best option.&nbsp; The entrepreneurial couple started out in 2008 with their first small place, and quickly learned that the local clientele had little interest in momo and noodles.&nbsp; With the help of an Indian cook, the menu expanded to tandoori and curry dishes (“without beef”). A few years later the Basnets were able to buy the current property on the recently renovated waterfront.&nbsp; They survived the Covid crisis and soon found that apart from locals, many people from surrounding towns were travelling to find their restaurant which stocks Kingfisher beer from India and Khukri rum from Nepal.&nbsp; “It’s mostly word of mouth publicity,” says a modest Lalit. Mamta adds, “If you like this line of work, it’s great. Talking to people, making them happy. It has to come from the heart, it shouldn’t be about making money. Dutch people are kindhearted. Our guests are happy.” &nbsp; It is no surprise then that Mamta Indian Tandoori &amp; Curry Restaurant scores an 8.8 on Tripadvisor from over 500 reviews.&nbsp; The Basnets have little time for socialising. Most of their free time is used to travel to the United States where Mamta’s ex-refugee siblings from Bhutan were resettled. As much as possible, Dasain and Tihar are celebrated together with others from Bhutan now based in The Netherlands.&nbsp; Do they still dream of one day returning to their homeland? “That hope has vanished,” admits Lalit, “most of us from Bhutan now dream of staying in the West.”&nbsp; Mamta nods: “I would love to go for a visit, but this is the place we want to be. Our life actually started here.” <h2>Ram Karki</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024112303110_48aff5eff4cfdb3c2ef9255d41aedaaa82b0239a467de4232ebc0e2c86a2e278.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024112303110_48aff5eff4cfdb3c2ef9255d41aedaaa82b0239a467de4232ebc0e2c86a2e278" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="From the Himalaya to Holland"> <figcaption>Ram Karki</figcaption> </figure>  Running a restaurant by day, campaigning by night. That pretty much sums up the life of Ram Karki from Bhutan in his new home at The Hague.&nbsp; Last August, the human rights activist addressed high-ranking officials from Bhutan at a United Nations meeting in Geneva. It was the first time a former refugee from Bhutan had confronted an official from the home country directly at the UN.&nbsp; Karki urged his former government to grant “immediate and unconditional amnesty to all political prisoners”, and called for the repatriation of Bhutan’s exiles wishing to return home. He also demanded that former citizens be allowed to visit Bhutan on tourist visas. A few months before the Geneva event, Karki had stood outside the International Court of Justice at The Hague, holding a sign that read, ‘There is no Gross National Happiness in Bhutan’. He was joined by members of the Global Campaign for the Release of Political Prisoners in Bhutan, an organisation he co-founded.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024112303110_ea434270349f2867fe749c4fd23b045a80d65a7cc1704655592cc90a10d5f856.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2024112303110_ea434270349f2867fe749c4fd23b045a80d65a7cc1704655592cc90a10d5f856" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1536" loading="lazy" alt="From the Himalaya to Holland"> <figcaption>Ram Karki (far right) and colleagues at the International Court of Justice. Photo: GCRPPB(Photo: Shristi Karki)</figcaption> </figure>  When not campaigning, 54-year-old Karki is busy managing the Himalayan restaurant, a cosy nook nestled in a narrow alleyway of the Dutch capital.&nbsp; “When my wife Jamuna and I opened this place in 2006, we were the only Indian restaurant around. Now there are over 50, and competition is fierce,” says Karki, a father of two. The restaurant was mostly closed during the Covid pandemic, but he used the time well to obtain a Master’s in Sociology. The Himalayan offers a mix of Indian, Nepali and Bhutanese cuisine. Karki’s day often extends well past midnight, as he prepares for virtual meetings to coordinate human rights advocacy efforts across different time zones.&nbsp; “It’s not an easy business,” admits the activist/restaurateur, crediting his wife and dedicated staff for helping him keep it afloat. “But I need to provide for my family and fund my human rights campaign.” Karki’s journey began in 1990 when he fled Bhutan after friends were arrested for opposing the Druk regime’s discriminatory laws. From India, he helped organise peaceful protests, including a demonstration where 25,000 protesters were met with gunfire from the Royal Bhutan Army.&nbsp; When Lhotshampa refugees began arriving in Nepal, Karki helped establish the first refugee camp in Maidhar of Jhapa district. In 2002, Karki came to The Netherlands, where he attended a human rights conference and sought asylum.&nbsp; “I chose The Netherlands because of its commitment to human rights, being home to the International Court of Justice and a voice in the EU and UN,” he explains. Learning Dutch was difficult at first, and getting his citizenship documents, Karki together with his wife opened the Himalayan restaurant in 2007.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024112303110_9c73eb5e084793462ea654079e42d9260913258682edc2f86b028b6cfe60eb9b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2024112303110_9c73eb5e084793462ea654079e42d9260913258682edc2f86b028b6cfe60eb9b" data-rendition-name="original" width="765" height="1020" loading="lazy" alt="From the Himalaya to Holland"> <figcaption>Karki's Himalayan restaurant.</figcaption> </figure>  As the Bhutan refugee resettlement program gained momentum, Karki played a vital role in helping 355 exiled compatriots find a new home in The Netherlands. Not one to rest on his laurels, Karki organised the newcomers into the Bhutanese Community in the Netherlands (BCN), becoming a mentor to aspiring restaurant owners.&nbsp; “Some call me their guru,” he smiles. “Yes, a few of them worked here before starting their own restaurants. But we all share what we know, and sometimes small loans.” One of Karki’s ongoing battles is for fair treatment of elderly refugees in the Dutch ‘inburgering’ process, a mandatory integration course for citizenship. Refugees who fail the language test cannot apply for full citizenship, with few exemptions granted for those with documented medical conditions.&nbsp; “Twenty elderly Bhutanese, including my illiterate parents-in-law, haven’t passed the test and are still without citizenship. This limits their ability to travel to places where visas are required,” Karki explains.&nbsp; The campaigner led a delegation of elderly refugees from Bhutan to the Dutch Parliament to push for change. “Many have family in the US and they are unable to visit. There’s a psychological aspect, too—they want to die as full citizens of their new country. Since the Dutch government invited them, they should grant elderly from Bhutan full citizenship rights.” What keeps Karki going? “Some of the friends I campaigned with in 1990 are still in prison back home. That pain drives me every day. I am leading a good life here in Holland, while they continue to suffer.”

From the Himalaya to Holland

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a460b9c7e80680e04d3b8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3888" height="2592"/><figcaption>A classroom full of Bhutanese refugee children in Beldangi. Many of them have been denied resettlement to be with their families already in the US. Photo: JAMIE PIOTROWSKI</figcaption></figure>On 20 June it will be another World Refugee Day, another year in which we remember the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Bhutanese-refugees-resettlement-program-ending-in-2018,4121">world’s most forgotten eviction</a> of a people from their homeland. Of the 100,000 Nepali-speaking people of Bhutan that the Druk regime forced out in the early 1990s, there are still 7,000 in two camps in Jhapa and Morang. The rest have been <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2011/08/17/over-50000-butanese-refugees-resettled/">resettled in eight countries</a> around the world.The fate of the remaining refugees is a serious crisis because while the UN refugee agency <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/state-of-statelessness-for-refugees-in-nepal">(UNHCR)</a> has already warned it will be shutting down two remaining camps, the Government of Nepal has not advanced the option of long-pending repatriation. On the other side, the US government, which <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/resettlement-of-Bhutan-refugees-in-United-States,3404">absorbed 96,000 Bhutanese refugees</a> under a multilateral resettlement program, has already shut the door to further admissions.Although a majority of the just over 113,000 Bhutanese refugees opted for third-country resettlement, some among those remaining and their leaders, including exile-based political parties, continue to call for repatriation to Bhutan, but to no avail. If nothing changes, those refugees will prefer to stay in the camps.Yet, if UNHCR pulls out, a humanitarian crisis is likely to endanger the lives of hundreds of children and elderly refugees. Many among those longing for repatriation are the most vulnerable -- aged and illiterate individuals who need support.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a460e9c7e80680e04d3b9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="720"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Thimphu’s strategy is to convince Kathmandu to absorb the remaining refugees permanently. Irrespective of Bhutan’s approach, UNHCR must actively and continuously promote the repatriation option.With over 65 million forcibly displaced people around the world, we understand that the UNHCR and other humanitarian organisations want to shift their focus to other more needy refugees elsewhere in the world. We believe that it will be wrong for UNHCR to stop assisting Bhutanese refugees remaining in Nepal.Despite 16 rounds of bilateral talks between Nepal and Bhutan that last nearly 20 years, Thimphu prevailed with its stance of not taking back any of the 100,000 ethnic Nepalis and Sharchops it forcibly expelled in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Bilateral talks abruptly stopped in 2004 following an alleged attack on the Bhutanese <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=9608#.XPXz7tIza70">Joint Verification Team</a> at Khudunabari Camp, and no promising signs of resumption have been seen since.Given the common ancestral heritage between the remaining refugees and Nepal it might sound like the ideal solution for them to assimilate locally, but in reality it could be a big political blunder because an additional 80,000 ethnic Nepalis currently living in Bhutan and denied citizenship might be subject to a second forced exodus.To be fair, it is equally possible that some of those left behind in the refugee camps will be happy to assimilate in Nepal, as they have already lived there for three decades -- enough time to feel a sense of belonging. If doing so would ensure that Bhutan will not evict more refugees, perhaps the Government of Nepal should honour these individuals’ wishes. It would be painful for the world to see the refugees living in limbo in the camps instead of being repatriated or locally settled.<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=13593#.XPXzZtIza70">India, which keeps Bhutan under its armpit</a>, and the US, which absorbed the majority of the refugees, should start to pressure Thimphu to unlock the repatriation option so justice is served. It is the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18150#.XPXzntIza70">ethical and moral responsibility</a> of these countries, as well as Nepal and the seven other western countries that resettled refugees, to advocate for the rights of those remaining. Resettlement was introduced as a humanitarian solution, not a permanent one.Bhutan has no choice but to repatriate refugees while providing restitution for their property in Bhutan. It should also introduce a bill allowing political parties in exile to register for elections. If repatriation happens, which it must somehow, Bhutan should also allow <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/live-together-work-together/">resettled former refugees</a> to travel to their country of origin. The current policy restricts them, even if they apply for a tourist visa. In the long run, this will boost the country’s growth.While the refugees in eastern Nepal await repatriation, we hope the UNHCR will not shirk from its responsibility and that other stakeholders will increase pressure on the Bhutanese government for the dignified return of the Bhutan nationals. At the very least, repatriation will be a victory for the Bhutanese against their country’s ethnic-cleansing policy._____Bhuwan Gautam and T P Mishra are both former refugees from Bhutan now settled in the United States. Gautam is a graduate of Westfield State University in public administration, and Mishra an international studies graduate from University of North Carolina and executive director at Bhutan Media Society.

Who stands with Bhutanese refugees in Nepal?

Fenerbahçe Beko won the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague finals in Abu Dhabi, held 23-25 May, defeating Monaco 81-70 in the final. Olympiacos, who defeated Panathinaikos 97-93, finished the series in third place. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final match, Nigel Hayes-Davis from Fenerbahçe Beko, received a prize of 1,000,000 Miles&amp;Smiles from Turkish Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer Ahmet Olmuştur. The carrier has been the title sponsor of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, a top tier tournament, since 2010.

Turkish Basketball

While Nepal was hosting the Sagarmatha Sambaad international climate conference in Kathmandu this month, on Mt Everest it was pretty much business as usual.&nbsp; The signs of climate breakdown are all there: a river now runs through Base Camp in summer, the Khumbu Icefall is more unstable, and there are more &nbsp;frequent avalanches. When expeditions arrived in March, the mountains were bare: it had not snowed since September, but then blizzards dumped unseasonal snow in May. And despite climate worries, such is the pull of Himalayan mountaineering that the Everest Industry showed no signs of slowdown. More than 600 international climbers and their Nepali guides had made it to the summit of the world’s highest mountain. At one point there were an estimated 2,000 people in the tent city on the Khumbu Glacier. All the ropes and ladders on the Icefall came down on Thursday, marking the official end of the spring climbing season, and just in time to avoid a monsoon cyclone approaching from the Bay of Bengal. It has been an action-packed season. One factor could be that Everest fees will go up from September: each foreign climber needs to pay a $15,000 royalty, up from the present $11,000. The cost for a Nepali climber on the South Col route will also go up: from Rs75,000 to Rs150,000.&nbsp; The fee to climb Everest in autumn is $7,500 (up from $5,500), but most climbers still prefer spring. Winter permit fee (December-February) is only $3,750 per person and the mountain is now also open for monsoon (June-August) climbs, when the fee is ever lower at $2,750. The revised rule also makes it mandatory for every two climbers on an 8,000m peak to hire one Nepali mountain guide.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025053004050_67f856fe52714e4bdcf21ae7d45c6f18c82117b9d0a5f73ed1efa04c96de1046.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025053004050_67f856fe52714e4bdcf21ae7d45c6f18c82117b9d0a5f73ed1efa04c96de1046" data-rendition-name="original" width="931" height="732" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest Industry graph 1"> </figure>  In addition, climbers also have to pay for porters and guides, equipment, Base Camp costs, Ice Fall and fixed rope team fees, so climbing Everest does not come cheap. But such is the draw of climbing the world’s highest peak that some say the increased fees will not diminish the crowds next year. The government has tried to spread expeditions out to other seasons and other 8,000ers, but with not much success. Earlier this year, Nepal unilaterally increased the number of 8,000m peaks to 14 by adding six more sub-summits to broaden the choice for climbers. Added were: Yalung Kang (8,505m), Yalung Kang West (8,077m) &nbsp;Kangchenjunga Central (8,473m), Kangchenjunga South (8,476m), Lhotse Middle (8,410m) and Lhotse Shar (8,400m).&nbsp; The announcement could go against the accepted topographic criteria that a stand alone peak has to be at least 300m higher than an adjoining prominence, and at more than 3km isolation from it. The UIAA (Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme) still recognises only 14 mountains as eight-thousanders, and only eight of those are in Nepal, or on the border with China. Nepal’s revised mountaineering regulations also increased the insurance coverage of high-altitude workers to protect porters and high altitude guides who usually take more risks on the mountains. Rescue teams and clean-up campaigners to collect trash and remove bodies of dead climbers up to Camp IV of Mt Everest do not need permits.&nbsp; The Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee is now using drones to fly down trash in 20kg sacks. Each climber is also required to bring down at least 6kg of waste and not just their own, but this rule is erratically enforced. With five fatalities on Everest and Lhotse, Spring 2025 had a historically low death toll. Another five climbers died on Annapurna, Kangchenjunga and Makalu.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025053004050_38681de22f0fefb6faa12b01755566d09c5064d0ff84e12ccc7b5d68ea9ba38a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025053004050_38681de22f0fefb6faa12b01755566d09c5064d0ff84e12ccc7b5d68ea9ba38a" data-rendition-name="original" width="665" height="740" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest industry graph 2"> </figure>  Journalist Ben Ayers who ran the Everest Live social media channel from Everest Base Camp with daily updates credited the low death rate to dramatic rescues of climbers from the ‘Death Zone’ by their Nepali guides and longline helievacs — the visuals all uploaded on YouTube.&nbsp; “Ironically, this perception of safety is bringing more and more inexperienced climbers to the mountain, and they need more rescues,” Ayers said in one of his dispatches.&nbsp; American expedition chronicler and summiteer Alan Arnette suspects there is a lot of under-reporting given that the jet stream and storms were lashing Everest even till late in the season. He told us: “I heard a lot about frostbite and rescues that were not made public. It’s become practically impossible to cover the details on Everest. All the teams report nice news, and they don’t talk about bad stuff to avoid hurting businesses.” Although trash on Nepal’s mountains makes headlines, what does not receive as much attention is the climate impact of so many expeditions. The Sagarmatha Sambaad conference sidestepped this issue, which is ironic given that the impact of climate breakdown is most evident on Himalayan peaks and their glaciers.&nbsp; <h2>Need for Speed</h2> The big stories this year have been about speed-running from their home cities to the top of Everest. Ukrainian entrepreneur Andrew Ushakov flew out of JFK on 15 May at 10:15AM Nepal time, and was on the summit 3 days, 23 hours, and 7 minutes later on 19 May at 9:22AM.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250601080640_1c5cc6fc991307861768f07037ed9d30930fb20f35dbb57dc31c9a92a9e1a885.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250601080640_1c5cc6fc991307861768f07037ed9d30930fb20f35dbb57dc31c9a92a9e1a885" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="1800" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest Industry"> <figcaption>Andrew Ushakov at the summt. Photo: ELITE EXPED</figcaption> </figure>  “I could never find the time for the traditional 40-50 days of acclimatisation,” Ushakov explained matter-of-factly. His ‘Everest Sea-to-Summit’ climb was possible because he spent 400 hours in hypoxic sleep tents over the past four years in New York. However, Ushakov did use ropes already fixed, hired four Nepali guides, helicoptered to Base Camp, and used much more oxygen than an average climber. And after the climb, Ushakov was arrested at Kathmandu airport for being in possession of $20,000 of undeclared cash and spent a night in jail and fined $60,000.&nbsp; The other speedsters were Garth Miller, Alastair Cairns, Anthony Stazicker, and Kev Godlington, all former British Army commandos. They left London and summited five days later on 21 May, and flew right back. They also used hypoxic tents to simulate the thin air high on Everest.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250601080644_90c8dd5cc07b4b43f2989b1dc0c0650ab80f10ebb06680c25a6909c519957bd8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250601080644_90c8dd5cc07b4b43f2989b1dc0c0650ab80f10ebb06680c25a6909c519957bd8" data-rendition-name="original" width="810" height="668" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest Industry "> <figcaption>All four members of the Furtenbach team at the summit. Photo: Sandro Gromen-Hayes</figcaption> </figure>  But more controversial was their use of xenon gas therapy in a German hospital to ramp up the production of oxygen-carrying haemoglobins in their blood. Xenon is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency for being performance enhancing in sports. Expedition leader Lukas Furtenbach said this rule does not apply to mountaineering, as it is not a regulated sport like swimming. Nepal has no rules about xenon, but the Department of Tourism said it was launching an ‘investigation’ to decide on future policy since it is difficult to ban xenon, but allow oxygen. The controversy has also divided the mountaineering community, with some climbers saying they just want to maximise their chances of survival. Spending less time on the mountain could make climbing safer by reducing avalanche risk. It would also mean less trash on the mountains, but it would reduce the income of Nepal’s expedition industry. It is also unclear how much of the success was due to xenon therapy and whether the ex-special forces were already in good physical shape.&nbsp; The need for speed hides the fact that climbing in the Himalaya is dangerous business, and climbers cannot sprint to the top just by huffing xenon. But ultra-fast climbs could be charged more, and the revenue generated can be used to establish state-of-the-art rescue operations, and increase pay and insurance for guides. Two other speed chasers this season were Swiss-Ecuadorian Karl Egloff and American Tyler Andrews, both on Everest without oxygen. Andrews choppered to Base Camp to catch a weather window, but turned back from 8,500m due to high winds. Heavy snow and wind also forced Egloff to descend from 7,000m. Slow and steady climbers like Anja Blacha from Germany did make it to the summit without oxygen, while Kami Rita Sherpa broke his own record with his 31st Everest summit as he led a 26-strong Indian Army group. There were 468 permits issued for foreign climbers from 48 expeditions to Everest this spring. Nepal’s other eight-thousanders together had only 17 expeditions. Nepal has more than 1,000 peaks above 6,000m, and has opened only 476 of them for climbing.&nbsp;

The Everest Industry

While Nepal marked <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mt-everest-pvt-ltd">Mt Everest</a> Day on 29 May, on the other side of the planet in the US state of Colorado dozens of Nepalis who have climbed the world’s highest peak multiple times were busy working as chefs and Uber drivers. Among them is Nima Doma Sherpa, who climbed Mt Everest in 2019 after her husband Tshering Wangchu was among 16 crushed by an avalanche on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/on-thin-ice-in-the-khumbu">the Khumbu Icefall</a> five years earlier. A large serac broke off the West Shoulder of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-everest-industry">Mt Everest </a>and fell directly on a group of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/more-porters-sick-on-everest-trail">porters and guides</a> making their way up the Icefall at 5,800m. Their bodies were flown by helicopter to Khumjung where Tshering Wangchu was born. He was excited about climbing Mt Everest for the first time.&nbsp; In Khumjung, Nima Doma felt like her own life had also ended. This was the kind of news Sherpa wives, mothers and sisters dreaded every <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-climbing-season-2025-s4abrxny">mountaineering season</a>. She stayed home for more than two years grieving, but ultimately gathered up all her emotional strength to take care of her 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter. Nima had grown up in Khumjung hearing <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/stories-of-nepal-s-summiteers">tales of adventure on the mountains </a>from their father, Ang Chubi Sherpa who had climbed Everest in 1993. He used to bring her and her sisters and brother European chocolates after every expedition, and used to tell them that the chocolate bars grew on the mountains. “It was only after we got older did we realise that he told us that chocolates grew in the mountains so we would not worry about him putting himself in harm's way,” Nima Doma recalled with a faraway look at her home in Boulder this week. Nima went to the school that <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/commemorating-edmund-hillary-in-nepal,4145">Edmund Hillary</a> opened in Khumjung till Grade 8, and then dropped out to help in the kitchen and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">tend yaks</a>. She was married off to Tshering Wangchu, who was also a high altitude guide. When Tshering went on expeditions, Nima also started working as a porter from Namche to Base Camp. It was perhaps her father’s tales of mountains of chocolates that had always attracted her to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/knowing-our-mountains-43v4iyvo">the peaks</a>. After her husband was killed ten years ago this month, being a widow with children was not easy for Nima Doma. But she was not alone: there were at least 200 single mothers in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/khumbu-since-1950-jaww4qn0">the Khumbu</a>, and 20 of them just in Khumjung whose husbands had been killed in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/tragic-start-to-himalayan-spring-nepal,3695">mountaineering accidents</a>. Some were not even 20 years old, and had children growing up without fathers. But there were also women in the 50s whose husbands had been killed in the 1980s. Nima found sponsors for her children’s education, and moved to Kathmandu. In the capital, Sherpa widows used to meet to help each other. Some of them had joined the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) training for rock and ice climbing. “I decided that it was no use sitting home and crying anymore, after meeting other single mothers I felt less alone,” remembers Nima, who joined the Juniper Foundation and enrolled in an NMA training camp in Manang. There she climbed Chulu East (6,584m) and met Furadiki Sherpa, whose rope-fixing husband had also been <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/on-mt-everest-s-70th-records-and-fatalities">killed on Everest</a> in 2013. They set themselves the goal of climbing Everest one day, and started a fund-raising drive.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250530090544_621be0724b9182c8e3594b2c562a71ec32ac01d985a71d0cf31646de9d51e15a.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250530090544_621be0724b9182c8e3594b2c562a71ec32ac01d985a71d0cf31646de9d51e15a" data-rendition-name="original" width="2678" height="1274" loading="lazy" alt="Everest summiteers find new life in the US"> </figure>  “We decided we had to overcome society’s stigma of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/widows-personal-happiness-comes-last-in-face-of-social-financial-hardships,1855">widowhood</a> and prove that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/remembering-junko-tabei">women could also climb mountains</a>,” Nima said, adding that she was inspired by Nepal’s first woman Everest summiteer Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, who died during her descent in 1993. Nima Doma and Furdiki climbed the technically-difficult Ama Dablam (6,812m) and then arrived at Everest Base Camp in April 2019 as part of their Two Widows Expedition with the motto, ‘So Can We’. While climbing up the Icefall Nima passed the spot where her husband had been killed. It was a jumble of constantly-shifting ice blocks bigger than houses. She closed her eyes and said a prayer. “I remember thinking, this is so difficult and dangerous. This is what my husband had to do to support our family,” Nima Doma said. “I was determined to fulfil my husband’s dream of climbing Chomolungma, and to prove to ourselves that we two women could do it.” It was 23 May 2019 when <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/world/two-sherpa-widows-scale-everest-and-smash-stigma-idUSKCN1SU0MV/" target="_blank">Nima and Furdiki stepped on the summit</a> and looked over into Tibet, and down at Tengboche Monastery to the south.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250530090544_6b822582b5d88ba5e972db084f184690b40653c6efd9901b2dd082ffba2a263b.png" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="20250530090544_6b822582b5d88ba5e972db084f184690b40653c6efd9901b2dd082ffba2a263b" data-rendition-name="original" width="2700" height="1522" loading="lazy" alt="Everest summiteers find new life in the US"> </figure>  Nima Doma hugged Furdiki, took off her mask and wept. But for the first time in five years, it was not from grief but relief — relief for being free of all the sadness and sacrifices and for fulfilling her husband’s dream. They had found <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/life-after-death">life after death</a>. “I felt this immense joy to be on top of the world, it was indescribable,” Nima Doma said, “I have wept only twice in my life. Once when my husband died, and once there on top of Everest.” The tears had frozen on Nima Doma’s cheeks, as she and Furdiki headed back down the mountain.

Everest summiteers find new life in the US

At the edge of the dense forest overlooking Bhaktapur, the sound of chirping birds and the wind rustling through the trees have been replaced by the growl of dozens of bulldozers. This Kakrabari Community Forest behind Suryabinayak shrine was c<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/reviving-nepals-community-forestry-success-story">arefully protected and managed </a>by the local Tamang community for centuries. Today, heavy earthmovers claw noisily at the slope, opening it up like a big red wound. With little land left in the densely populated city, developers are venturing further afield to the valley’s rim and forcibly taking over forests that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-unsung-heroes-of-conservation">local communities </a>have depended on for fodder, firewood and to protect their watershed.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250530180528_acd2eb20a4839a83f3a15b4c8587dbf82c5b96534f2184043edeaf0f5165145f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250530180528_acd2eb20a4839a83f3a15b4c8587dbf82c5b96534f2184043edeaf0f5165145f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="562" loading="lazy" alt="Plotting to plunder NT"> </figure>  This project of Nic Vujicic Housing Company in Suryabinayak’s Kakrabari Bhanjyang is just the latest and most blatant example of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/who-now-owns-nepals-forests">encroachment of forests </a>by real estate developers in collusion with local government officials. “One day, they just came and bulldozed my house,” says Shanta Lama of Ghising Danda, whose family has been living in a tent since March. “Company workers gathered my belongings, deposited them in this tent and demolished my house.” Unlike some of her neighbours, Lama refused to give up her home, but stood no chance against the heavy machines and strongmen mobilised by the company.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250530180528_ff88453001e3dc521406bda7b6cb06b9e5b70d6821e67251b92257e60e72232a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250530180528_ff88453001e3dc521406bda7b6cb06b9e5b70d6821e67251b92257e60e72232a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="562" loading="lazy" alt="Plotting to plunder NT"> <figcaption>Shanta Lama of Ghising Danda whose house was bulldozed last month. She and her family are now living in makeshift huts nearby.</figcaption> </figure>  Adds Shanta: “I have not signed any document of agreement, the company keeps telling me that they will settle the paperwork later.” Her neighbour Bal Bahadur Tamang, says a<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/ordinary-nepalis-extraordinary-sacrifice"> bulldozer razed his house</a> while he was out grazing goats in the forest. He recalls: “My wife shouted to the neighbours for help, but no one heard her.” &nbsp; The company used strongarm tactics to try to force Bal Bahadur to sign away his small plot at the edge of the forest that the housing company needed. The family refused, so the property was simply taken over. “Many families have been forcibly evicted from their homes and moved elsewhere to make way for the new housing colony,” says Bal Bahadur. But such is the fear of the young vigilantes employed by the company, that they are afraid to speak out.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250530180528_b7d1a94af95a0b17703f61397d65fe879c4c9b3b02681706b9104114a5c4e5cd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250530180528_b7d1a94af95a0b17703f61397d65fe879c4c9b3b02681706b9104114a5c4e5cd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="562" loading="lazy" alt="Plotting to plunder NT"> <figcaption>Many families this one have been forcibly evicted, and do not want to speak openly because of the fear of vigilantes. </figcaption> </figure>  But there appears to be a generational divide among the local community in Ghising Danda. Many <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/no-country-for-young-men">young men have migrated</a> to the city or abroad, but those that remain have been promised jobs and a piece of land by the company, and support the project.&nbsp; For centuries, Suryabinayak communities have tended to the land, and the land has tended to them. The protected trees provide them with livelihood,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/multipronged-response-to-nepal-s-multi-hazards"> prevent landslides</a> on the slopes above and recharge ground water so the springs do not go dry. But this historic connection was severed in January when the excavators arrived to chop down trees and dig up the hill, razing 1.1 hectares of the community forest and surrounding settlements.&nbsp; Much of the forest is now gone, and recent rains have washed the red mud down the mountain like a bleeding gash. On a recent visit excavators were levelling the slope.&nbsp; Nic Vujicic Housing is owned by Purna Bahadur Limbu, Prabin Kusma and Dillidhwaj Baraili. It had parcelled 14.6 hectares in the neighbouring Palanse village three years ago, and was even awarded by the municipality for the project.&nbsp; Now, the company is clearing 27 hectares of private property and community forest in Ghising Danda without a planning permit either from the municipality or the Kathmandu Valley Development Authority (KVDA).&nbsp; In fact, its application has been pending at the Authority since last October. The company has dangled a lollipop by promising 21 out of the 451 private plots to the government.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250530180528_08bcc863a21fd35364086877e1f8152d6c470b5fcd4fd650c555577a824c77c6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250530180528_08bcc863a21fd35364086877e1f8152d6c470b5fcd4fd650c555577a824c77c6" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="562" loading="lazy" alt="Plotting to plunder NT"> </figure>  Nepal’s 2015 Basic Standards for the Development of Settlements, and Urban Planning and Building Construction by-laws stipulate that land transactions, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepali-building-bridges-in-tasmania">construction projects</a>, and housing development via land consolidation require approval from either the KVDA or local government.&nbsp; Projects involving land up to 0.1 hectares require permission from the local level, and those of up to 2.5 hectares require approval from the district authorities, and plans exceeding that area need a permit from the KVDA.&nbsp; Nic Vujicic Housing’s director Dillidhwaj Baraili, is a member of the Federation of Nepalese Industries and Entrepreneurs (FENIE), and close to the ruling UML party.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250530180528_2016ffcd828fda3535798e7534067519e9c346e64371866c9a61c571ce70b1b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20250530180528_2016ffcd828fda3535798e7534067519e9c346e64371866c9a61c571ce70b1b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="562" loading="lazy" alt="Plotting to plunder NT"> </figure>  While the company did consult with locals, conduct an EIA, tested soil quality, and conducted a hydrological study of the area, these were perfunctory and incomplete for a proper permit application. The approval of<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/mind-the-gap-6liiyw5w"> private landowners </a>and the municipality as well as project details were missing.&nbsp; The company had excavated half of Ghising Danda without permission when the local community started raising questions. Only then did it seek permission from the ward, which directed it to apply for a planning permit from the Suryabinayak Municipality.&nbsp; “We are yet to verify whether all the documents submitted by the company are in order, which is why the application is still pending,” Rajendra Prasad Nepal, the municipality’s information officer, told Nepali Times.&nbsp; But the lack of a permit does not seem to deter company director Dillidhwaj Baraili, who uses convoluted semantics to justify using excavators on private and community land. &nbsp; “It is the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-unreal-real-estate-prices">plotting of the land</a> that requires approval from the KVDA, we do not need permission from local authorities to operate heavy machinery on the project site,” Baraili told us. However, Ward 9 Chair Bhagwan Khatri says no such permission to use excavators and bulldozers have been given without first obtaining a planning permit. “The housing project is illegal because it has moved forward without a planning permit,” says KVDA’s District Commissioner for Bhaktapur, Safal Shrestha. When the bulldozers started felling trees in the community forest in March, a joint task force of four local guthi put up a resistance, and demanded that the housing company ensure that there would be no mudslide danger downslope <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/before-the-next-monsoon">during the monsoon</a>.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250531030528_44bd6a61a1c81d07ee19e790a51929a9fd13c1db2da7ede2b7ef4d99b8c6c32a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="20250531030528_44bd6a61a1c81d07ee19e790a51929a9fd13c1db2da7ede2b7ef4d99b8c6c32a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="562" loading="lazy" alt="Plotting to plunder NT"> <figcaption>Dozens of heavy earthmovers were at work at this site one morning earlier this month. With an early monsoon, residents fear mud slides.</figcaption> </figure>  It also wanted the company to make sure the flow of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/the-heat-beneath-our-feet">water in springs</a> were not affected, and to set up a boundary along the community forest to prevent further encroachment. It also demanded compensation to displaced homeowners.&nbsp; But Nic Vujicic Housing paid no heed, and sent in excavators. Last month, the Kakrabari Community Forest Users Struggle Committee wrote to the Bhaktapur District Administration Office, Suryabinayak Municipality, and the Division forest Office to halt the project. In response, the housing company put out a press release accusing residents of spreading rumours, but the statement presented contradicting information about the status of its planning permit at various levels of the government. &nbsp; It has taken a month for the local government to even send an inspection team to the site. But the team concluded that the forest had been encroached upon and asked the housing company to halt its activities immediately.&nbsp; The company refused to comply, and on 9 May the Police was sent to shut down the project. Baraili maintains the forest was levelled with the consent of all four Guthi as well as Ram Krishna Tamang of the Kakrabari Community Forest User group. Tamang told us he has given no such go-ahead.&nbsp; “How could we have permitted the operation of construction machinery in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/safeguarding-the-soul-of-sal">community forest </a>when the Nepal government itself does not allow the destruction of public property?” adds Tamang. Because of the controversy, the company is now trying to use a carrot and stick approach by placating the local community, while also intimidating those who speak out. “Even though we had obtained permission, perhaps we should have not started using our heavy machinery yet,” Baraili admitted. However, the company is trying to silence dissenters in the community with threats. The company has deployed local youth who have been promised jobs to convince and cajole outspoken community members in Ghising Danda. &nbsp; One of them is Chewang Tamang, who says jobs are more important, and lashes out at locals for being “anti-development”. He says: “There is no point sitting around complaining that a few trees have been cut. The only people who are opposed to this project are those who do not want this place to develop.” &nbsp; <div class="embed-block"><div><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="https://cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2F6TRxyQjbo50%3Fsi%3DjMRyrgfB9tTX8pP8&key=87ca3314a9fa775b5c3a7726100694b0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer *; clipboard-write *; encrypted-media *; gyroscope *; picture-in-picture *; web-share *;"></iframe></div></div></div>

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