Why Trump lined up a tiny Himalayan nation for his travel ban list
Along with North Korea, Iran and Afghanistan, Bhutan – the Buddhist-majority nation of 800,000 people – faces a complete ban on its citizens entering the US.
Known as the Land of the Thunder Dragon, it is nestled high up in the mountains between India and China. It hosted the Prince and Princess of Wales in 2016, and the King in 1998. This year, Ed Sheeran played a concert at the national stadium.
The new travel ban – which has not yet been signed off – is the result of Donald Trump's executive order in January, which required the State Department to identify countries 'for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries'.
The president said he was taking the action to protect American citizens 'from aliens who intend to commit terrorist attacks, threaten our national security, espouse hateful ideology or otherwise exploit the immigration laws for malevolent purposes'.
The red group, comprising 11 countries including Bhutan, would face the most severe restrictions – a complete ban on their citizens entering the US.
The potential blacklisting has caused concern in Thimphu, and other capitals, as observers try to understand why they have been targeted.
Why ban Bhutanese travellers?
The US draft list has sparked debate over Bhutan's own immigration policies, where it has barred exiled citizens from returning to their homeland.
Bhutan introduced a 'one nation, one people' policy after a 1988 census revealed a Nepalese majority in the country's southern districts. Tens of thousands of Nepali-speaking Bhutanese were evicted and forced into refugee camps in Nepal. By the early 1990s, Bhutan had expelled around 80,000 people – about one-sixth of its population – using threats, destruction of property, imprisonment, and torture.
Most of these refugees have since been resettled in countries such as the US, Canada, and Australia. However, Bhutan has refused to allow exiled communities to return, drawing criticism from human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch.
Sudarshan Pyakurel, executive director of the Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio, accused the country of hypocrisy. 'For decades, Bhutan has barred Bhutanese-Americans from visiting their homeland, seeing their families, attending funerals, weddings, and religious pilgrimages. Was that fair? Bhutan defends its right to impose restrictions, yet when other nations do the same, it suddenly feels wrong? Fairness isn't a one-way street,' Mr Pyakurel said.
'If Bhutan truly seeks fairness, it should start with its own people – grant visitation rights to Bhutanese-Americans, release political prisoners, repatriate the remaining refugees from Nepal,' he added.
Nepalese immigration scandal
Another possible reason for the exclusion could be the fallout from a major immigration scandal in 2023, in which Nepalese nationals posed as 'Bhutanese refugees' to gain entry to the US.
The scam, involving high-ranking Nepalese politicians and bureaucrats, led to the arrest of Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, the former deputy prime minister, and Bal Krishna Khand, the former home minister, who were accused of extorting over $2 million from Nepali citizens.
They allegedly charged between $7,600 and $38,000 per person for fake refugee documents to facilitate entry into the US. The scam defrauded at least 875 people, sparking protests in Kathmandu and raising concerns in Washington about the integrity of Bhutanese refugee resettlement.
Infiltration via Canada and Mexico
Another factor contributing to Bhutan's red-listing may be an increase in Bhutanese nationals illegally entering the US via Canada and Mexico. Bhutan's high unemployment rate has driven a significant outflow of young professionals and civil servants.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement data show that between 2021 and 2024, at least 51 Bhutanese nationals were arrested for immigration violations.
Meanwhile, the figures from the US Department of Homeland Security indicate that between 2013 and 2022, at least 200 Bhutanese were caught residing illegally in the US and 61 were deemed inadmissible upon arrival.
Visa overstays
There are also concerns over Bhutanese visa overstay rates, with the Trump administration targeting countries whose nationals have demonstrated patterns of remaining in the US beyond their authorised periods of stay.
In 2022, 112 out of the 295 visitors from Bhutan failed to leave the US as required. In 2023, 72 out 371 overstayed their visas.
Bhutan had previously been flagged for high overstay rates in a 2019 Homeland Security report, which identified it alongside Chad (44.94 per cent), Djibouti (37.91 per cent), Mauritania (30.49 per cent), Iran (21.64 per cent), and Afghanistan (11.99 per cent).
During Mr Trump's first term, Bhutan was among several nations whose citizens were required to post bonds of up to $15,000 before being granted US visas due to overstay concerns.
Fake cultural groups
The US has long suspected Bhutanese nationals of exploiting cultural exchange programmes to gain entry to the country.
According to a 2010 Wikileaks cable, a group claiming to be a Bhutanese Buddhist folk music and dance troupe was discovered to be a front for human smuggling. They would charge between $3,000 and $ 4,000 from people for the US visa.
What does the government say?
Bhutan's ministry of foreign affairs and external trade has formally requested a review of the listing, insisting that Bhutanese citizens did not pose a significant security threat to the US, according to local media outlet Kuensel.
Karma Loday, a former politician, wrote an open letter to Mr Trump on his Facebook page, expressing disappointment over the US ban.
'I feel it is unfair for whatever reason to have my beloved country enlisted with some of the countries with terrorism history. We are in no capacity to even defend our nation militarily without seeking help from others let alone wage an act of terrorism to the United States if that is a suspicion,' Mr Loday said.
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