From Refugee Camps to Pittsburgh: The Bhutanese Community’s Journey Amid Misinformation

Tek Rimal arrived in Pittsburgh in February 2011 during a heavy snowstorm. “The temperature was in the single digits,” Rimal recalled. “Coming from South Asia, it was a physical shock.”

Despite the biting cold, something about the landscape resonated with him. “There was a quiet beauty to the topography that made me feel, for the first time in a long time, that I might be able to call this place home.”

Rimal settled in Pittsburgh after spending 19 years in refugee camps following the expulsion of his people from Bhutan. Today, he works as a senior software engineer at a bank, while his siblings operate grocery stores, trucking companies, and retail businesses across several states. His extended family manages fleets and storefronts throughout the Northeast. But after 15 years of establishing themselves through hard work, Rimal and his community find their accomplishments undermined by persistent misinformation.

“When neighbors see property purchases or business openings, they think it was given by government agencies,” Rimal explained. “They don’t see the years of sacrifice—the way our families pool resources, live modestly, and save every penny from multiple jobs to invest back into the community.”

Pittsburgh’s Bhutanese community has faced numerous challenges, from language barriers to social isolation and the psychological impact of statelessness. Now they confront what the United Nations Refugee Agency describes as a “turbo-charged” misinformation environment, where artificial intelligence enables the inexpensive spread of false or manipulative content across digital platforms.

Narhari Pokhrel, a Bhutanese community educator who leads naturalization classes for elders navigating U.S. systems, said these misconceptions overlook the long process of rebuilding financial stability.

“One major misconception is that refugees receive free housing and free money,” he said. “That is not how it works. It is unfair to throw a blanket statement over an entire community.”

Pokhrel explained that while some elders qualify for SNAP food benefits or Supplemental Security Insurance, particularly those who arrived late in life with no U.S. work history, the eligibility requirements are identical to those for any other resident.

“Speaking as a refugee who came here with nothing,” Pokhrel said, “we were not given houses. We were given opportunity.”

A History of Displacement

The Bhutanese presence in Pittsburgh traces back to a period of displacement that began in the early 1990s, when Bhutan’s “One Nation, One People” policies led to the expulsion of more than 100,000 ethnic Nepali-speaking residents known as Lhotshampas. Most fled to refugee camps in eastern Nepal, where families lived for years with limited legal status, restricted movement, and heavy reliance on humanitarian aid.

After diplomatic negotiations stalled, third-country resettlement began in 2007. The United States ultimately resettled about 85,000 Bhutanese refugees, including families who began arriving in Western Pennsylvania in 2008.

Bhagawat Phuyal was among those early arrivals, coming to Pittsburgh at age 14 when only a handful of Bhutanese families lived locally. “We didn’t know the systems. We stayed close together,” he recalled.

Without an established neighborhood, Bhutanese families dispersed across Brentwood, Baldwin, Whitehall, and Canonsburg, building community through schools, places of worship, soccer fields, and shared navigation of unfamiliar institutions. Community organizations estimate more than 5,000 Bhutanese refugees now live in Allegheny County and surrounding areas.

Phuyal noted that generational differences shaped adaptation: younger residents often learned English more quickly, while older residents tended to rely on Nepali-language social media platforms for news and information.

Rumors about immigration enforcement circulate rapidly, sometimes leaving even naturalized citizens feeling vulnerable. “Some elderly community members feel insecure because of what they see,” he said.

Pokhrel encounters that insecurity in the citizenship classes he teaches in the South Hills. “Language is the biggest barrier to our elderly folks,” he said. “If the news is in English, it’s hard to follow. So they rely on Nepali content online.”

“Language determines whether resettlement feels like opportunity or isolation,” Pokhrel emphasized.

Building Information Infrastructure

To bridge these gaps, the Bhutanese Community Association of Pittsburgh (BCAP), a nonprofit that helps Bhutanese refugees and immigrants navigate schools, health care, and civic systems, has built its own information infrastructure.

The organization distributes Nepali-language audio messages and text alerts through its robocall channel, explaining policy changes, benefits, school information, and urgent community updates. These audio messages allow information to reach elders who cannot read English fluently. BCAP also maintains relationships with municipalities, school districts, police departments, and election officials so questions can be clarified before confusion spreads.

“Speaking directly with residents is the most effective way to correct misinformation,” said BCAP Executive Director Khara Timsina.

Persistent Misconceptions

While language barriers can create information gaps within the Bhutanese community, misinformation also circulates about the community.

Timsina said misunderstandings about refugee assistance remain among the most persistent. One early example emerged during a conversation at a Whitehall library in 2010, where staff reported that residents believed Bhutanese families received free money to purchase homes. Timsina visited the library to explain how resettlement works: refugees may receive short-term rental assistance—typically up to three months—after which families are responsible for rent, utilities, and other expenses. Many also arrive with travel loans covering airfare from refugee camps, which must be repaid, including for children.

After the first few months, federal programs can provide some support, including limited, short-term cash, medical assistance, case management services, English classes, job readiness and employment services, budgeting assistance, and home maintenance help.

Rimal said support was procedural and limited. Housing assistance was paid directly to landlords through Catholic Charities rather than provided as cash, and most working adults transition off assistance as they enter the workforce.

Each member of Rimal’s family received a small amount of arrival money—$10 for him, $10 for his wife, and $5 for their son. He used the $25 to open his first bank account at PNC.

Community members have built long-term stability through collective strategies: multiple jobs, shared housing, pooled savings, and gradual credit building.

“If refugees received free money, my wife and I would not have struggled to establish credit history and take a 30-year mortgage,” Timsina noted.

The Impact of Misinformation

“The idea that refugees receive free housing is not only incorrect, it is insulting and damaging,” Timsina said, noting that persistent misconceptions can compound anxiety and mental health strain for families already adjusting to new systems after years of displacement.

That strain is not new. A 2012 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigation found elevated suicide rates among resettled Bhutanese refugees in the U.S. during early resettlement years, identifying language barriers, unemployment, and isolation as contributing factors.

BCAP’s work increasingly includes responding to misinformation. During the 2024 presidential election cycle, a video circulated online claiming a local organization had transported non-citizens to vote at an early voting site in Allegheny County. The claim spread quickly across social media.

Timsina said the video misrepresented BCAP’s voter engagement work, which focuses on transportation and language access for naturalized citizens participating in elections for the first time. The organization transported a small group of registered voters who needed interpretation support. Allegheny County later issued a public statement confirming that translators were permitted and that only registered voters could receive ballots.

BCAP declined to engage directly with the online claims, instead directing media outlets to the county’s clarification.

“This incident showed how easily routine civic support can be reframed as suspicion, and how misinformation often spreads faster than clarification when language differences obscure context,” Timsina said.

Service and Citizenship

Four years after arriving in Pittsburgh, Phuyal enlisted in the U.S. Army and served seven years in a medical unit.

“I think it’s important that people know that members of our community serve in the U.S. military,” he said.

He now works in home care staffing and co-owns Desi Global Mart in Canonsburg.

Rimal became a U.S. citizen through naturalization after nearly two decades without a country. “Receiving my citizenship was more than just a legal status,” he said. “It was the restoration of my dignity.”

While he’s moved forward, he said the past is never fully behind him.

“When I look at the current uncertainties in the country today, I sometimes feel a chilling sense of familiarity,” he said. “For someone who hasn’t lost everything, these might seem like passing political cycles. But for me, they are reminders of a childhood cut short. It is a unique burden of the refugee experience. Even when you have found safety, you never truly stop looking for the exit, fearing that you might one day have to protect your family from the same history repeating itself.”

Rimal said that vigilance is not a sign of weakness. Instead, it has made him more protective of the democracy and inclusive community he worked hard to become part of.

That vigilance increasingly includes access to clear, reliable information.

“Safety is not only physical,” Timsina said. “It comes from understanding your rights and trusting that you know where to turn.”