I am ashamed that a paper like The Japan Times would run an article like the one Nov. 30, "Bhutan royals trip masks rights issues."
The issue (in which tens of thousands of so-called Bhutan citizens of Nepalese descent have been forced to leave the country as refugees) has been a real pain in the neck for both Bhutan and the outside world. A bit of research on Bhutan would show that the refugee camp has become a steppingstone to the West for the Nepalese. Just look at the number of people there — it has doubled — and compare it with the population of Bhutan. The United Nations is also thinking of closing it down.
Bhutan is not an island country like Japan. Anyone can enter through its porous border and claim to be Bhutanese. We still have Bhutanese of Nepalese origin living in Bhutan. If a Japan Times reporter had taken more time to explore our king's visit to Japan last month, he or she would have found a Bhutanese minister of Nepalese origin accompanying the king.
Bhutan has all the rights to protect itself. You talk of human rights. What about the Bhutanese people, what about our rights?
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.