I have been working since October (2009) with a family of refugees from Bhutan, who are part of an ethnic group known as the Lhotshampas (Wiki article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lhotshampa) . The group as a whole is tied culturally to Nepal, and generally they are Hindus, while the whole of Bhutan is much more culturally influenced by Tibet and the majority of the people are Tibetan Buddhists. Since the 1980s, a time when Bhutan was an absolute monarchy, the government of Bhutan has been carrying out ethnic cleansing of Lhotshampas in the country, not in the sense of mass killing but rather driving the Lhotsampas out of the country. Most of the Lhotshampas have ended up in refugee camps in Nepal for the past 20 years or so, and the Nepalese government won't take them as citizens. The act of ethnic cleansing, for one, has created a moral dilemma for myself, as I have attempted to follow the teachings of Buddhism for some time, but the knowledge that there are people who claim to be followers of Buddhism and still commit inexcusable atrocities is very disturbing. How can any person who claims to be a Buddhist-a philosophy which NEVER makes any reference of philosophical/spiritual supremacy over other ideologies- commit acts that are completely discriminatory and xenophobic?!
I look at my own family to see if there is anything wrong with them to the point where they in any way deserved this fate, and I have found nothing. They are a good family of five, a mother and father with a son in high school, a daughter in middle school, and a much younger daughter. The mother is expecting anther child soon, and the family is doing all they can to provide for her well being, even as she and the father are helping to keep their small apartment clean, with the father working late shifts at his job. They are some of the most kind and hospitable people I have known, and they never cease to be warm and open to me. I have only spoken to the children some about the situation in Nepal (I usually talk to the children in most matters as the parents are still struggling with English), and the children have told me about their lives in the Nepalese camps, as the children themselves were actually born in those camps. They spoke mainly of the political situation in Nepal, the clash between the old Hindu traditionalists and the Maoist supporters, but they did tell me some about how their family, along with other Lhotshampas, were essentially "run out of town" by the Buddhists years ago. For their age, the children seem to be some of the brightest people I know, due to their situation growing up, and I believe that it they will be successful in this country due to their realization of the world around them.
