By Sudarshan Pyakurel MA, MSW

As Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detains more individuals from the Bhutanese refugee community in Ohio and Pennsylvania, community leaders and legal experts are issuing an urgent call to action: halt the deportations and confront the broader human rights crisis behind these cases.

In recent weeks, eight Bhutanese-American legal permanent residents have been detained by ICE despite having already served sentences for non-violent offenses such as domestic violence, petty theft, vandalism, and driving while intoxicated (DWI). Advocates argue that these detentions reflect a disturbing pattern of double punishment, targeting refugees and marginalized immigrants who often fall through the cracks of the legal system.

“These are not threats to public safety. These are people who have paid their dues and are being re-punished because of systemic failures,” said Bhuwan Pyakurel, Reynoldsburg City Councilmember and a longtime Bhutanese community leader based in Columbus. “This isn’t justice—it’s cruelty disguised as policy.”

Many Bhutanese detainees, he notes, accepted plea deals without fully understanding their legal rights or consequences. Language barriers, lack of legal counsel, and economic pressures led to hurried decisions, often taken simply to return home, go back to work, or care for family.

One such case involved a Bhutanese man in Ohio jailed for 28 days after failing to post a $150 bond—10% of a $1,500 bail—due to lack of support and English fluency. By the time he was released, he had lost both his job and his home.

Bhutan’s Human Rights Record Under Scrutiny

Community advocates argue that deporting Bhutanese refugees isn’t just unjust—it’s dangerous. A March 2025 report by the United Nations Human Rights Council confirms that Bhutan continues to arbitrarily detain political prisoners, particularly members of its ethnic Nepali minority, in violation of international law.

The report found that Bhutanese authorities have sentenced political prisoners to life without parole, often following flawed legal processes that lack transparency and due process. These actions violate core international human rights standards, including those outlined in the UN Convention Against Torture, to which the United States is a signatory.

“Deporting resettled refugees back to Bhutan is not only legally indefensible—it is potentially lethal,” said Narayan Sharma, a legal expert on international refugee law. “These individuals could face arbitrary detention, torture, or worse upon return. The U.S. has a legal and moral obligation to protect them.”

Compounding the crisis is the fact that the United States has no diplomatic ties with Bhutan, and Nepal does not accept deportees who were resettled from its refugee camps. This means deportation orders against Bhutanese refugees are not just inhumane—they are functionally unworkable.

A Community Response and Clear Demands

In response to the growing crisis, Bhutanese community leaders across the U.S. are calling on lawmakers, human rights organizations, and immigration courts to act. Their core demands include:

• An immediate halt to deportations of resettled Bhutanese refugees

• Access to qualified legal representation and interpretation services

• Proportional justice—ensuring that no one is punished twice for the same offense

“Deportation is not a solution. It’s a moral failure and a legal misstep,” said Suraj Budathoki, New Hampshire State Representative and co-founder of Peace Initiative Bhutan. “We must do better—for our communities, for our country, and for the principles we claim to stand for.”

The Bhutanese-American community, which numbers more than 90,000 nationwide, resettled between 2008 and 2018 as part of a U.S.-led humanitarian program in response to Bhutan’s ethnic cleansing campaign. While they have built new lives, their past persecution—and now, current legal vulnerability—continue to follow them.

“We are not criminals. We are survivors,” Pyakurel added. “We fled injustice in Bhutan. We cannot allow that injustice to follow us here.”

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