For nearly 20 years, Bhutan native Hari Adhikari was a refugee in Nepal.

‘Eighteen, 19 years was too much for anyone to live in a refugee camp,’ said Adhikari, now a Syracuse resident.

Bhutanese-Nepalese refugees shared stories about refugee encampment and the struggles of acclimating to American culture Wednesday afternoon in Eggers Hall. The event was prompted by the growing number of refugees in the Syracuse community and sponsored by the South Asia Center, a part of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs.

Emera Bridger Wilson, outreach coordinator for the South Asia Center, said the presentation was organized to educate the Syracuse University community on the plight-ridden histories of the city’s refugee population.

Wilson introduced Adhikari as the ‘driving force of the Bhutanese-Nepalese community in Syracuse.’ Adhikari, a human rights activist with the Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Program, spoke about Bhutan’s violent political past.

The people of Bhutan were ruled by an absolute monarchy, in which the king’s word was law, Adhikari said. Nepali-speaking Southern Bhutanese males were sentenced to detention centers to purge the spread of democratic ideals made popular in the 1980s, he said.

Adhikari himself was detained by the government. He recalled seeing men hanging from their ankles as blood dripped from their mouths and noses while army forces beat them mercilessly, he said. This and other methods of intimidation were adopted to strike fear into the Southern Bhutanese and force their relocation, Adhikari said.

After exhausting all other options, including pleas to neighboring international powerhouse India, he said many Bhutanese relocated to Nepali refugee camps. Adhikari said the settlements are composed of shelters constructed with bamboo, while the refugee camps lack all formal health facilities and modern amenities.

In 2008, the United States and seven other countries offered to resettle Bhutanese refugees from Nepali camps, he said. More than 2,000 of the 60,000 Bhutanese refugees the United States offered to settle currently reside in Syracuse, Adhikari said.

Jai Subedi, a refugee and member of Syracuse’s Citizen’s Cabinet, recalled his experience with the Bhutanese government. His father owned a lot of property but was kicked out, he said.

After relocating to a refugee camp at age 20 and being educated in the camp, Subedi arrived in Syracuse 27 months ago. He now advocates for literacy and education on behalf of Syracuse’s Bhutanese community.

Subedi said the language barrier is harming efforts to incorporate the Bhutanese into American culture.

‘My tongue does not twist as an American tongue,’ Subedi said.

Kamal Gautam, a former doctor in his refugee camp, also stressed the importance of overcoming language barriers. Though Gautam speaks fluent English, he has observed the difficulties of everyday encounters between the Bhutanese and English-speaking residents of Syracuse, he said.

Gautam said he aspires to become a legal practitioner of medicine in the United States within three years and has submitted an application to volunteer with the Upstate Medical University Hospital.

Members of the Bhutanese-Nepalese community in Syracuse are also faced with the struggle of balancing their native culture with the intricacies of American society, Adhikari said. Traditional dance and teaching Bhutanese youth the Nepali language are two methods of preserving culture amid assimilation, he said.

Adhikari closed the presentation by stressing the need for assistance from SU. Federal aid covers basic needs, but donations are needed to provide refugees with everyday comforts, such as furniture.

Cassie-Lee Grimaldi, a freshman television, radio and film major, attended the event and said she thought more people in the area should pay attention to the issue and donate time to help.

‘It opened my eyes to the struggles right in our own backyard,’ she said.

Barbara Schloss, an employment specialist with InterFaith Works, said she agreed. 

‘As a worker in a refugee program,’ she said, ‘it expanded my knowledge of the hardships the Bhutanese refugees encounter and how they’ve overcome barriers.’

dbtruong@syr.edu

Published on February 9, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Debbie: dbtruong@syr.edu | @debbietruong