In both India and Nepal caste is a complex system of social stratification which separated individuals through social, physical and economic boundaries. Caste law produces social boundaries that prevent lower caste groups from touching, sharing food, or using the same washing spaces as upper caste members. These boundaries are known as rituals of purity and pollution: as lower caste members are understood as being impure, higher caste members avoid
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sharing meals and physical contact with lower caste members. In this sense the caste system perpetuates social segregation and oppression as lower caste groups are excluded from entering particular spaces such as higher caste members’ homes. In this way lower caste groups are excluded and marginalised in a direct and daily manner. Caste order can also dictate marriage arrangements as families arrange marriages within their caste group. Caste status cannot be changed through marriage or economic status. In this sense individuals are born into a particular caste group, just as they are born into a particular gender. Caste remains a fixed phenomenon just as gender does. Changing caste is difficult, socially deviant and often an impossibility. In this sense caste membership is hereditary and permanent.
As explained earlier, the Lhotshampa population of Bhutan came from Nepal, where they were a Hindu society with a caste system. When they migrated to Bhutan in the 1880s, they took the caste system with them. After their exclusion from Bhutan, this caste system again reformed in Nepal’s refugee camps. As Nepal society is already organised by the Hindu caste system, Lhotshampa Hindus were able to practise caste and Hinduism easily in refugee camps.
Sarah’s stories show the caste system has reformed within the Palmerston North Bhutanese community. The following sections will explain how, although caste law is unable to reform with the same distinct social boundaries in Western societies, caste is still practised in subtle ways and this has a deep impact on the lives of lower caste people.
Sarah assumed other Bhutanese refugee families in Palmerston North would also abandon the caste system as a result of moving to New Zealand. This was not the case. Many Bhutanese refugee families continue to practice Hinduism, and the community is still shaped around the structures of the Hindu caste system. According to Grieco (1998), the reformation of caste systems among migrant communities is often determined by the reasons for migration. In the case of refugees, feelings of isolation and uncertainty are common within the first year of resettlement. Consequently, community members cling to familiar social systems, such as the caste system. Grieco (1998) explains:
“Because the caste system is a socioeconomic system based on the relationship of
interdependent, integral caste groups, much of what can be considered caste-related behaviour derives its structural basis from these groups. Thus, it is the auspices of
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migration that enables or prevents these social groups from reforming overseas and therefore determines the level of caste-related characteristics in any overseas Indian
community” (p. 710).
Sarah revealed her experience of isolation during the family’s first day in their new home. It was during this time they longed for the company of other Bhutanese people. Consequently, Sarah and her daughters made attempts to connect with Bhutanese neighbours. Unfortunately, they were not welcomed by many of the already settled Bhutanese due their low caste status. She states:
“The children were saying to me, ‘Here is a different place. Nobody comes to us here. No friends here.’ We were very scared of being alone. So I told my children, ‘There are some Nepali next door. Go to their house.’ When my children heard that there were other Nepali people close, they were happy. So I sent them over there. I said, ‘Go and talk to them nicely. I will cook some food to share and you can make some friends.’ So my children knock on the door and he asks, ‘Who are you?’ They say, ‘We are Nepali people.’ But he say, ‘No, no, no! You are not coming in. You are low caste!’ He asks,
‘What is your last name?’ And my children told the last name. He said ‘No, no, no! You are not coming in. Get outside!’
Having a community and pre-existing social networks is understood to be key in the mental health and wellbeing of refugees resettling (McMichael & Manderson, 2004). Silveria and Allebeck’s (2001) study of life satisfaction amongst Somali men living in London revealed loneliness and the loss of social networks as a key cause of depression; and Hardwick’s (2003) study of refugees living on the Pacific Coast of the United States highlighted that having a community to belong to helped to cushion the impact of adjusting to life in a foreign country. As well making the resettlement processes easier, belonging to a community reduces the negative effects of traumatic life experiences. Kia-Keating and Ellis (2007) demonstrate that PTSD is less common among refugee migrants who move and resettle within solid migrant communities and achieve a sense of belonging. Although much of the literature surrounding refugee resettlement suggests housing refugee communities close to each other makes the resettlement process less stressful for all, my research suggests that this is not always the case. For Sarah and her
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daughters the process of resettlement in Palmerston North was made more difficult by the presence other Bhutanese refugee families. During the early stages of resettlement, Sarah made continued efforts to connect with Bhutanese neighbours, but she continued to experience discrimination and rejection because she was single mother of low caste status. Feeling rejected by the Bhutanese community and not yet having connections to other New Zealanders. Sarah reveals the family’s feelings of anxiety and isolation during their first months in Palmerston North.
“It was a very sad time for me, Jessica. Our family knew nobody. Nobody wants to be our
friends, to help us. The Nepali people here are very unkind to me and I didn’t know what to do in New Zealand. What are the rules? I don’t know! It will be different for my son and my new daughter because I have been talking to them for a long time now about what it is like to live in New Zealand12. The will be okay because they have us and they know more about New Zealand than we did, so they will be okay.”