Ethnic cleansing of Lhotshampa in Bhutan

Ethnic cleansing of Lhotshampa in Bhutan refers to acts of violence to remove the Lhotshampa, or ethnic Nepalis, from Bhutan. Inter-ethnic tensions in Bhutan have resulted in the flight of many Lhotshampa to Nepal, their country of origin, many of whom have been expelled by the Bhutanese military. By 1996, over 100,000 Bhutanese refugees (40% of Bhutan's Lhotshampa population at the time) were living in refugee camps in Nepal. The exact figure has been disputed, with recent investigations revealing a scheme in which 800 individuals fraudulently obtained refugee status with assistance from certain Nepali politicians and bureaucrats. Several high-profile individuals have been investigated and arrested in connection with the scheme, which involved facilitating fake refugee claims in exchange for millions of Rupees. The Bhutanese authorities also claim that the number of refugees has been rising since 1991, when there were only 300. UNHRC camps in eastern Nepal received about 6,000 refugees from Bhutan at the height of the conflict, but the number shot up in the following years, reaching over 100,000 by the end of 1993. The Bhutan government claimed that, with a generous daily allowance in refugee camps and poor process of verification, many stateless and landless people in the area joined the refugee bandwagon. Many have since resettled in Western countries.