Refugee Mobilization in the Nepal–India Borderlands: Porosity as Opportunity

Abstract For more than a decade, the India–Nepal border played a central role as a site of resistance for Bhutan’s refugees. It served as a conduit through which materials and information were exchanged and demonstrations were planned and carried out. Key to the undertaking of these activities was the border’s porosity, which, I argue, is an overlooked opportunity structure in homeland activism. In this article, I draw on borderland theories and empirical evidence from homeland activism carried out by Bhutan’s refugees to elucidate the ways that porosity and opportunity intersect. I identify three mechanisms through which porosity aids not only refugee movement but also refugee mobilization. First, porosity’s path dependence lays the groundwork for critical connections with activist affiliates. Second, porosity enables bi-directional flows of information that aid the work of documentation. Third, porosity improves the likelihood of relative resources into which activist refugees can tap. These mechanisms rely on the physical, social, and symbolic aspects of borderlands.