New York, January 28:  Arizona State University in Phoenix will showcase their documentary on exiled Bhutanese in March that its student made during her winter holidays.  

 

According to a statement by the university’s Information Specialist Marshall Terrill, one of its 

Carly Campo spent her holiday season for preparing the document of exiled Bhutanese who arrived in US on resettlement program. The documentary visually illustrates the resettlement process from a refugee’s point of view. 

“Many individuals, unfortunately, have misinformed and negative perceptions of refugees and I want the opportunity to bring a humanized look into their lives as they adapt to a new culture,” Campo says. “It’s a subject matter many people don’t know a lot about. I hope my project can be used as an educational tool for the public and perhaps by organizations in their endeavors to help refugees.”

The 22-year-old journalism major will spend the next few months chronicling the life of a Bhutanese family as they face several cultural adjustments for her untitled documentary, which include language barrier, housing, employment, transportation, education, health, diet, money management, rights and responsibilities, and travel.

Joanne Morales, director of refugee programs for Catholic Charities Community Services, said the Bhutanese government established new eligibility requirements for Bhutanese citizenship in the 1980s that disenfranchised many ethnic Nepalis, stripping them of their civil rights. Since then, all ethnic Nepalis from southern Bhutan have been living in seven different camps in eastern Nepal since they were expelled from their homes more than 18 years ago, the statement reads.

“These refugees have literally been physically forced out of Bhutan and have nowhere to go,” says Morales, who connected Campo with a Bhutanese family through their program. “I am hopeful this documentary will help the community understand why we bring refugees to the United States and how the community can help support them.”

“Refugees are normal people who unfortunately had to leave their country for whatever reasons, whether that was for political or religious persecution,” Campo said. “They come to the United States to make a better life for themselves and they shouldn’t be condemned for that.”

The half-hour documentary will be screened on Friday, March 27 at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication’s Cronkite Theater, 555 N. Central Ave. Admission is free. It will also air several times in April on ASUtv, which reaches almost 700,000 households in the Valley including Maricopa County and parts of Pinal and Casa Grande.  Bhutan News Service