Learning to Be Refugees: Humanitarian Governance and the Case of Bhutan: Bhutanese Refugees and Humanitarian Governance

This ethnography follows Bhutanese refugees who fled Bhutan, resided in camps in Nepal, and finally settled in the vastly different culture of Australia. Along the way, they learn the ways that humanitarian compassion is used to oppress, contain, and erode human rights. They also learn, however, that this charitable framework has small cracks that allow for action. The Bhutanese find ways to move between the contradictory expectations of refugee—ness as they strive to become citizens. Their...