Squatting in Bhutan explained

In 2001, about 10 per cent of the population of Bhutan's capital city Thimphu were living in squatted informal settlements; by 2019, the figure had dropped to 2 per cent since the squatters had been rehoused. There are also rudimentary settlements on the periphery of other cities such as Phuntsholing and Samdrup Jongkhar.[1] [2] The inhabitants work as manual labourers or in the informal economy.[3]

There are forest squatters in the south of Bhutan on the border with India: in 2016, evictions led to riots in Chirang district, in the Bodoland Territorial Region; [4] in Kokrajhar district, entrepreneurs clear forest land and sell the right the live there to people who become de facto squatters.[5] In the 1990s, a process of ethnic cleansing in the south of Bhutan led to around 100,000 Lhotshampa (Bhutanese people of Nepalese descent) being driven into Nepal, where they either squat or live in refugee camps.[6]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Bhutan Urban Policy Notes: Affordable Housing Policy . 2019 . 2 May 2022 . 20 April 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220420012948/https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/11872 . live .
  2. Burisch . Michael . Industrialization and Industrial Estates in the Kingdom of Bhutan . Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsgeographie . 1988 . 32 . 1 . 33–52 . 10.1515/zfw.1988.0003. 201672071 .
  3. Book: National Report . 2016 . Ministry of Works and Human Settlement Royal Government of Bhutan . Bhutan . 2 May 2022 . 28 August 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200828081637/http://habitat3.org/wp-content/uploads/Bhutan_Habitat-III-National-Report.pdf . live .
  4. News: Choudhury . Preetam B. . Bandh over eviction in Assam . 30 April 2022 . Telegraph India . 17 September 2016 . 30 April 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220430101207/https://www.telegraphindia.com/north-east/bandh-over-eviction-in-assam/cid/1419496 . live .
  5. Dutta . Anwesha . Rural informalities and forest squatters in the reserved forests of Assam, India . Critical Asian Studies . 3 July 2018 . 50 . 3 . 353–374 . 10.1080/14672715.2018.1479646. 149706401 .
  6. News: Douglas . Ed . Nepal's Bhutanese 'forgotten' refugees . 2 May 2022 . The Guardian . 24 June 2001 . en . 30 April 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220430091729/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jun/24/nepal . live .

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