Tibetan Refugee Settlements in Bhutan:

List of Tibetan Settlements in Bhutan and their livelihood:

In the aftermath of the Chinese occupation of Tibet, many Tibetans from the southern part of Tibet fled into Bhutan on their way to India but many Tibetan refugees chose to remain in Bhutan. The people of Bhutan deeply sympathized with the refugees and extended assistance as much as possible within their capacity.

Those refugees who sought refugee in Bhutan were resettled in seven settlements (listed below). The Royal Government of Bhutan donated the land and the Government of India granted the finance for these resettlement projects.

At the beginning most of them had to lead a very hard and improvised life. Agricultural was and still is the main occupation of the Tibetan refugees living in Bhutan. With hard work and materials assistance from the Government, within very short time, they become to the extend possible self-supporting.

However, since the land holding was quite small to meet the needs of the growing number of settlers, hence, many of them took to petty business. In 1981, many Tibetan refugees in Bhutan chose to permanently resettle in India and they were allowed to do so.

About half of the initial Tibetan refugees chose to remain in Bhutan and they continue to live in these seven settlements located across the kingdom of Bhutan. Currently there are 1450 people in the seven different settlements. Most of these settlements have a small monastery, a primary school and a small heath clinic.