Dr Gil Daryn
Published: 6 Oct 2016
Country: Bhutan, Tibet
Dr Gil Daryn is a social anthropologist (Ph.D. Cambridge 2002) and published scholar with expertise on the culture, society, history and politics of South Asia in general, and particular knowledge about Nepal and Bhutan. Since 1989, and until he left in June 2011, he has visited, conducted research, worked and lived in the region for a total of almost ten years. He became professionally engaged with the issue of the exodus of ethnic Nepalese from Bhutan and the protracted refugee problem that ensued, while working in UNHCR’s Kathmandu office as an Associate Durable Solutions Officer during 2008-9. In this capacity he became familiar with UNHCR’s archives, read in detail the historical material regarding the migration of ethnic Nepalese to Nepal in the 1990s and the state of human rights in Bhutan. In addition, he conducted focus group discussions and interviews with many Bhutanese refugees and held detailed discussions with them while in the refugee camps in southern Nepal. Among others, he looked into the circumstances that forced them out of Bhutan, learnt about the minority of ethnic Nepalese who fled to India and about the many who remained in Bhutan. He later worked for various other international agencies for humanitarian aid and development. Dr Daryn has served as a consultant and expert on asylum and human rights issues in Nepal and Bhutan since 2005.