The Japanese government’s decision to confer “The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star” to former Bhutanese Ambassador to Japan, Dago Tshering, in recognition of his contribution to “strengthening the friendship between the two countries” is being viewed by Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal camps and those resettled in other countries as a shameful event in the backdrop of the forced eviction from the country of a large number of Nepali-speaking Bhutanese people in 1990.
 
Bhutan had then expelled the Lhotshampa (meaning people from the country’s south) - an ethnic group having its origins in Nepal – in what the government regarded as a move to preserve the country’s ethnic purity. 
 
The Order of the Rising Sun is awarded by the emperor of Japan to individuals, both Japanese and foreign nationals, in recognition of their meritorious service and distinguished achievements.
 
Dago Tshering served as Bhutan’s home minister from 1991 to 1998. Prior to that, during his tenure as the deputy home minister, on August 17, 1990, he revoked the citizenship of thousands of Bhutanese citizens. He executed a military crackdown on a peaceful pro-democracy and human rights movement in 1990 and quickly issued directives revoking the citizenship of thousands of Southern Bhutanese and their families who fled the country amidst widespread state persecution.
 
Bhutanese refugee crisis

About a sixth of Bhutan’s population was forced to flee the country and take refuge in eastern Nepal, creating one of the biggest refugee crises in the world. Fifteen rounds of bilateral talks between the governments of Bhutan and Nepal failed to resolve the issue of the Bhutanese refugees by ensuring their repatriation.

Beginning in 2007, after over two decades, 110,000 of the displaced Bhutanese have finally been resettled in eight countries – the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Denmark, Canada, Britain and The Netherlands. The largest number—more than 94,000—have made their way to the United States, the remaining 12,000 have found refuge in other countries. There are 7,000 refugees still in camps in Nepal, desperately looking for ways to return to their 'homeland' Bhutan.
 
Protest against award

Recently, 47 organizations all over the world sent a letter to Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga requesting him to roll back the decision to confer the award to Dago Tshering, accusing him of committing human rights abuses and suppression of democracy while he was in power in Bhutan. The Global Bhutanese Campaign Coordination Committee for Japan Campaign 2021(GBCCC-JC 2021) also sent a letter asking for the revocation of the award to Tshering.
 
‘The decision of the Japanese government to award Dago Tshering, "a principal perpetrator of human rights violations and (throttling the) voice of democracy in Bhutan during the 1990s has (caused us)… surprise, pain and shock", the letter says.
 
"While we acknowledge the desire of your government to strengthen the mutual relationship between Bhutan and Japan by conferring the award, we regret to state that this very gesture … has unlocked deep-seated injury and trauma that many of us Bhutanese have personally undergone during the home minister’s tenure", it added.
 
GBCCC-JC 2021 initiated the online petition campaign through change.com with the hashtag #NoAwardtoDagoTshering to garner more public support and stand in solidarity with the victims and their families. Bhutanese diaspora leaders have mentioned gross abuses, including arrest, torture, and eviction they faced, and have expressed a belief that Japan will revoke the award.

Protest for justice
 
Already, some eminent persons have publicly criticized the decision to award Tshering.
 
“The Bhutanese depopulation exercise which created refugees has been ignored for three decades. Even remembering the exercise will provide some justice”, one of the signatories, Kanak Mani Dixit, a Nepali publisher, editor, and founder of the magazine Himal Southasian wrote.
 
“We lobbied for third-country settlement for Bhutanese refugees for humanity's sake and hoping that the camp youngsters would grow to committed adults who demand accountability. It seems to be happening”, he further tweeted.

“Few people outside Bhutan & Nepal know the massive ethnic cleansing that occurred there in the early 1990s. It’s a pity Japan was unaware,” said Kul Chandra Gautam, former UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF on Twitter.
 
Therefore, the time has come for the government of Japan and international communities to act on this issue that involves the rights of so many thousands of people. Other countries are reluctant to directly intervene in the inhuman treatment that the Southern Bhutanese were subjected to at Tshering’s orders, but one can perhaps shame him and his government by petitioning Tokyo to revoke his award. Such a thing has never happened before, but perhaps it is now time for an epoch to bring the nearly forgotten issue back into the international discourse.
 
(The writer is currently serving on the advisory board to the mayor’s office in Manchester, New Hampshire, US. The views expressed are personal and SAM editors do not necessarily share these views. He can be reached at tilakniroula@gmail.com)