Meeting Bhutan in Oakland

A small group of Bhutanese are living in this area and more are expected soon. A new group is helping them get settled. - - Donna Poisl

by Ananta Gurung, co-founder of the Bhutanese American Community Center

You already know this. Oakland, where about half a million people speak more than 80 languages, is a magnet for immigrants. We've got people from Ethiopia, Japan, India, Mexico, Mongolia, Nigeria, Vietnam... the list goes on. There's a new addition. The latest arrivals are from Bhutan, a small (less than 15,000 square miles) south Asian country neighboring India.

If you've been following the news, then you probably know that about 60,000 Bhutanese of Nepali origin are being settled in the U.S. These Bhutanese have been living in refugee camps in Nepal for close to two decades due to an internal conflict in Bhutan. Six other countries -- Australia, Canada, Norway, Netherlands, New Zealand and Denmark -- are also taking in 10,000 refugees each.

Ananta Gurung, the director of the Bhutanese American Community Center (BACC), a secular not-for-profit-group, says that the population of the Nepali-Bhutanese in Oakland will see a sharp increase in the coming year due to the resettlement deal. Right now, there are about 400 Bhutanese living in Alameda and Oakland.
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