Bhutanese Americans
Bhutanese Americans are Americans of Bhutanese descent. According to the 2010 census there are 19,439 Americans of Bhutanese descent.[1] However, many Nepali-Bhutanese came to the U.S. via Nepal as political refugees from that country and are registered as Nepali Americans; often leading to the actual numbers of Bhutanese Americans being underreported. More than 92,323 Bhutanese Nepalis have been resettled in the United States, with the largest single community being approximately 27,000 in Columbus, Ohio.[3][4]
Community and social issues[edit]
Suicide[edit]
A trouble in the community is the high rate of suicide. In 2008, more than 30 Bhutanese refugees, shortly after resettlement in United States, committed suicide.[2][14] From 2009 to 2012, 16 more suicides among the Bhutanese community had occurred.[15] According to an article in The Wall Street Journal in 2013, 7 more Bhutanese refugees had committed suicide.[14]
According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for every 100,000 Bhutanese refugees, 24.4 commit suicide, almost double the rate of 12.4 for the general population of The United States. It was also stated that this estimate was much higher than the estimated annual global suicide rate for all persons in the world at 16 per 100,000 people.[16][15]
Poverty[edit]
According to data released in 2017 by the Pew Research Center, 33.3% of the Bhutanese American community lived under the poverty line.[17] This is more than twice the USA poverty average of 16% according to data released by the Economic Policy Institute in 2011.[18]
Health[edit]
Many sources have indicated that 21% of all Bhutanese Americans suffer from depression which is nearly 3 times the rate of the general American which stands at 6.7%.[19][20][21] It has been observed that other mental illnesses are also prevalent among the community such as anxiety and PTSD.[22][23]
Organizations[edit]
The Bhutanese American Association of Houston (BaaH) and the Association of Bhutanese in America (ABA) are two examples of Bhutanese-American organizations. The Bhutanese American Association of Houston has an ESL program which provides elderly people in the community with the resources to learn English. In addition, ESL students are taken to various places and parks with recreational purposes to facilitate adaptation to the city.[25] The Association of Bhutanese in America aims to establish relationships between U.S. Bhutanese and Bhutanese in Bhutan and elsewhere, as well as establish a platform that favors their relationship with the community and their country of origin.[26]