Ram Karki

Born and bought up in Samchi Bhutan, Mr Ram Karki, then 19 years fled Bhutan on 19 august 1990, sensing imminent trouble to his life for possessing literature related to Human Rights and Justice. Mr Karki was one of the tens of thousands of Bhutanese who participated in the 1990s historic peaceful demonstration all over southern Bhutan. Later along with two other fellows, Mr Karki rescued the 91 most vulnerable evicted Bhutanese from India to Nepal and established a Bhutanese Refugee camp in Maidhar, Jhapa, Nepal, in early 1991. Later Mr Karki was awarded a DAFI scholarship by UNHCR to pursue further studies and returned to the camp after completing a Bachelor of Arts in political science honours from St Joseph College, Darjeeling, in 1998. Mr Karki, during the course of his human rights campaign reachedEurope and later sought political asylum in the Netherlands during the end of 2002. Since then, he has been actively campaigning for human rights and justice for the Bhutanese people from Europe. During his campaigning, Mr Karki addressed significant international conferences, including at the European Parliament, Dutch Parliament, UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and universities in the Netherlands. Besides founding and spearheading the campaign to release Bhutanese political prisoners through the Global Campaign for the release of Bhutanese Political Prisoners (GCRPPB), Mr Karki is also the coordinator of the only exile-based Bhutanese Think Tank, The Bhutan Watch based in Australia and a former president of The Bhutanese Community in the Netherlands (BCN). He published several articles in various newspapers, websites and Journals including The Bhutan Journal, which is published yearly by The Bhutan Watch. He has a Master’s degree in Sociology, specialising in Engaging Public Issues, from Erasmus University Rotterdam. Mr Karki lives in the Hague with his family and runs a hospitality business.