WASHINGTON / KATHMANDU — Scores of former Bhutanese refugees who had lived in the United States for years have found themselves completely stateless following a wave of deportations by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The move has sparked severe humanitarian concerns, leaving these individuals stripped of legal recognition and adrift without a nation to call home.

The deportees—primarily members of the Lhotshampa ethnic minority who originally fled systemic persecution and forced displacement from Bhutan in the late 1980s and 1990s—were stripped of their Bhutanese citizenship decades ago. After spending years in United Nations-administered refugee camps in Nepal, many were resettled across American cities under federal humanitarian programs.

However, recent shifts in U.S. immigration enforcement have led to the removal of several former refugees, mostly due to prior legal or criminal convictions. Upon being flown back to Bhutan by U.S. authorities, the Bhutanese government refused to recognize them as valid citizens. Authorities subsequently escorted the deportees across the border into India, forcing them to navigate precarious routes to reach refugee camps in eastern Nepal.

Human rights advocates and legal experts warn that these enforcement actions violate international law on statelessness. Forced out of the United States, rejected by their country of birth, and possessing no valid legal identification, many of the deported individuals are now living in constant fear of arrest, hiding, or relying on temporary court stays in Nepal.

The Lhotshampa people, a Nepali-speaking minority in southern Bhutan, were targeted during the late 20th century under Bhutan’s “One Nation, One People” policy. The enactments of the 1985 Citizenship Act severely restricted their rights, leading to mass expulsions, land confiscations, and the displacement of over 100,000 individuals into neighboring Nepal.

Between 2007 and 2016, the United States, alongside seven other partner nations, facilitated the global resettlement of over 113,000 Bhutanese refugees. The U.S. accepted more than 90,000 of them, offering green cards and a path toward permanent residency. However, those who faced legal trouble before securing full citizenship remained vulnerable to U.S. deportation laws.

Under international conventions—specifically the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness—governments are urged to avoid actions that result in statelessness. Legal scholars emphasize that deporting individuals to countries that do not grant them legal citizenship violates foundational principles of non-refoulement and fundamental human rights.