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Frustration is a common problem among youth, often triggered by unmet expectations, social pressures, or internal conflicts. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), frustration is the thwarting of actions that prevent individuals from obtaining something they have expected.

Understanding the reason for frustration among youth is necessary to know how much they are affected by the country’s current system. To understand this complex emotion, it is important to analyze through psychological and sociological perspectives.

One of the major reasons for frustration among youth is education. “The education system in Nepal places more emphasis on theoretical knowledge rather than practical skills needed in daily life. With this, students feel disconnected, since their learning rarely aligns with real-life problem-solving situations,” says 17-year-old Pasang Tenzing Lama. Education system plays a significant role in shaping youth’s future, and when they feel alienated from the curriculum, many seek opportunities abroad, hoping to acquire practical skills rather than staying back in their own country.

Lama’s perspective shows the thinking pattern of many youth, where being disengaged from education evokes a problem. Gopal Dhakal, a psychologist, says that along with outdated curriculum and lack of practical skills, young people struggle to define their place in society. The mental conflict between what they were taught and the harsh reality, like limited opportunities, leads to disillusionment among youth.

Twenty-three-year old Prapti Khadka says: “Young people are forced to seek opportunities abroad, as they find greater exposure and potential for their growth. As a result, many people tend to stay abroad without any plan to return to Nepal.” 

Sociologist Meena Poudel says, “Youths today are globally connected through social media and digital access, but they live in a local context of stagnation. This creates the belief that everything is possible elsewhere, but they feel trapped at home, unable to access those same opportunities.”

The search for a better future goes beyond education and touches the broader workforce. A study by Pew Research Center in Dec 2024 found that only 12 percent of the survey participants expressed dissatisfaction with their jobs. In Nepal’s context, job dissatisfaction among youths could be much higher. Kopila Thapa says her poor salary, long working hours, and the job pressure pose a lot of challenges in her life.

This displeasure not only touches on job conditions, but also ties up the broader issues among youth. Psychologist Dhakal says in the current scenario, youth face constant rejection from a lot of things, despite putting in a lot of effort. “Over time, this leads to low self-esteem, depression, and even suicidal thoughts. As proper paths are unavailable for youth, frustration can give way to aggression and crime.”

This phenomenon is not unique to Nepal. In China, the term “Bai Lan” has gained popularity among youths. It reflects a mindset, which means let it rot, where individuals choose to give up striving in a system they feel is rigged or hopeless. A significant factor intensifying annoyance is the political sphere, where youth feel disconnected from the political process.

“With the frequent changes and lack of a stable government, the demands of citizens are unmet, where youth voices are often neglected”, says 23-year-old Sushant Maharjan, who sees political instability as the major problem in the country.

Sociologist Poudel admits that young people in Nepal are deeply frustrated with the political system  marked by the absence of visionary leadership.

“Youth voices are often ignored in our country’s decision-making process, which triggers more stress and leaves them without a clear vision for their future,” says 16-year-old Sniti Bega. 

Sociologist Poudel says that the traditional system of education, power, and knowledge remains unchanged, creating a disconnect between the younger generation’s needs and the authority that governs the society. “Our youths feel trapped in a system that does not evolve to their aspirations.

The heavy vexation among youth is an issue that underscores the urgent need for reform.” 

The societal structure, regressive education curriculum, and government must evolve to change to address the desires of younger generations. Through progressive leadership and a meaningful political dialogue, Nepal can retain its youth for the country’s growth and transformation. 

At least 40 Palestinians were killed and dozens more wounded in a series of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City on Wednesday, according to Xinhua.

An Israeli drone reportedly targeted a restaurant and market in the al-Rimal area, killing at least 25 people and seriously injuring many more. The casualties were taken to local hospitals, and officials warned that the death toll might climb.

Separately, Gaza's civil defense said that two airstrikes hit a school sheltering displaced inhabitants east of the city, killing 15 people and wounded 10, Xinhua reported.

The Israeli military has not responded to the strikes.

In April, after more than eight years in the United States, Aashish Subedi was put on a plane and deported to Bhutan, his country of birth. But when he arrived, Bhutanese authorities didn’t welcome him home. Instead, officials transported him to the border with India and he made his way to Nepal. But he was stateless.

Subedi is among dozens of former Bhutanese refugees who have been deported from the US in recent weeks, human rights advocates say. A US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson provided Global Press Journal with a list of six former Bhutanese refugees who’d been deported in April, but acknowledged that the list was far from comprehensive. Subedi’s name was not on that list, but he provided Global Press Journal with his green card number and other identifying information. All of the people on the list were convicted of serious crimes while in the US. Subedi says he, too, had previously been found guilty of a felony. The deported people were originally among tens of thousands of Nepali-speaking Lhotshampa people that the Bhutanese government persecuted and forced from the country in the 1980s and 1990s. Most of these families found haven in refugee camps in Nepal, where they weren’t allowed to get citizenship. Some, like Subedi, ultimately moved to the US as refugees.

But now, Subedi, who used the first name of Aasis while in the US, is back in the refugee camp where he lived as a child. “I never imagined that I would be returning to the place where I grew up, this time as an undocumented person,” he says. “Now, my future is shrouded in uncertainty.:  The case of Subedi and other deported former refugees calls into question the legality of deportation when the end result is statelessness. Under ordinary circumstances, agreements between countries govern deportation. In this case, it’s not clear whether the US had an agreement with Bhutan to deport people there. Representatives of the Bhutanese government did not respond to requests for information.

Even if Bhutan has agreed to receive the people, the deportations are “deeply alarming,” says Samantha Sitterley, an attorney at United Stateless, in an email to Global Press Journal. In general, she points out, it’s not legal for the US to deport people to a place where their lives or freedoms are threatened. “Bhutan has not changed its position towards this group, which includes the decision to explicitly deny them citizenship and other basic rights,” she says. An investigation is underway in the Nepali judicial system to determine what the former refugees’ future will hold. They no longer have authorization to live in Nepal since they were resettled in the US. And if they’re expelled from Nepal, no country in the world would be obligated to take them in.

Gopal Krishna Siwakoti, a refugee specialist at the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network, says at least 30 Bhutanese people have been deported from the US, and at least 60 more are expected to be deported soon. Now, he says, they’re stateless. “These people have no country, no citizenship and no land to call their own,” Siwakoti says, summarizing the situation as a grave human rights violation.

Ramchandra Tiwari, a spokesperson for Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs, says the Nepali government is engaging with both the US and Bhutan to resolve the issue through legal means. “Returning people who have been officially recognized as refugees and resettled abroad,” he says, “is unforgivable under international law.”

Stateless

Subedi’s deportation was part of what ICE called a “targeted enforcement operation,” according to details provided by that agency to Global Press Journal. All the men on the list provided by ICE were admitted to the US as refugees and eventually became permanent residents. Their criminal histories include convictions for battery of and cruelty toward children, solicitation of a minor under the age of 15, possession of child pornography, robbery and a host of other crimes. Subedi says he was convicted of “gross sexual imposition,” a felony in the state of Ohio.

Judges had ordered at various times in recent years that all the men on the ICE list be removed from the US. The most common way someone loses their status as a permanent resident is due to criminal conviction, Sitterley says. If the former refugees lost their status, she says, “they were stateless when they were in the US.” The yearslong delay between the removal orders and the deportations indicates that “ICE had the authority to deport these people for quite some time but no place to send them, until now,” Sitterley says.

Himesh Krishna Kharel, a lawyer for Subedi and the other former refugees, says the men have been victims of criminalization since birth. Most didn’t know about the process for applying for US citizenship, he says. They also couldn’t afford lawyers to represent them in the criminal cases that ultimately figured into the US decision to deport them. “The US resettlement of refugees is a permanent solution,” says Ram Karki, founder of the Global Campaign for the Release of Political Prisoners in Bhutan. “If resettled people commit crimes, they should be prosecuted within the US legal system.”

Expelled and stranded

Subedi says he was taken by ICE directly from prison in March, and detained in Ohio. He was then moved to a series of detention facilities before being deported in April. He says he was one of 18 people that ICE officers accompanied to Bhutan. When they arrived, he says, after a day at a hotel, Bhutanese authorities took them to the Indian border crossing and handed them InRs 30,000 ($355) each.

Subedi remembers their words: “You have no right to be here—no language, no citizenship.” He moved through India, he says, and paid a broker to cross illegally into Nepal. In the 1980s and 1990s, Bhutan’s nationalist “One Nation, One People” policy targeted Lhotshampa Nepali speakers, stripping them of their citizenship and forcing nearly 100,000 people to Nepal. Many spent years, even decades, in refugee camps. From 2007 to 2018, more than 113,000 Bhutanese refugees were resettled from Nepal to third countries, making it one of the largest and most successful UNHCR resettlement programs in history. Some, though, still remain in camps in Nepal.

Subedi reunited with his father, Narayan Kumar Subedi, when he returned to the refugee camp in April. Narayan Kumar Subedi says he, his two wives and his son were expelled from Bhutan 33 years ago. They received refugee cards and lived in a refugee camp in Nepal, but weren’t allowed to pursue permanent residency or citizenship. Years later, when the international resettlement program began, one of his wives, son and a daughter who was born in the camp were deemed eligible for refugee status in the US.

Meanwhile, Narayan Kumar Subedi remained in the camp. Now, fate has brought his son back after nearly a decade—not as a citizen of any country but as a stateless person with no land or nationality to his name. The reunion was bittersweet. “I was emotional to see my son again,” he says. “For years, I sat alone in their empty bed, waiting for this moment.”

He called on the police to investigate the deportation. But when they arrived, they took his son away in handcuffs. Immigration officials ordered that he be sent back to the US. “These individuals came without documentation, and under current law we are forced to classify them as illegal immigrants,” says Tiwari, spokesperson for the Nepali Ministry of Home Affairs. Aashish Subedi says he was held in police custody for weeks while his legal status was investigated. During that time, his father filed a writ of habeas corpus in the Supreme Court. On April 24, Subedi, along with three other former Bhutanese refugees who’d been deported from the US, listened to lawyers argue their cases.

The order finally came: temporary relief, a stay of deportation. But an investigation with a 60-day deadline is now underway for some of the former refugees, says Tulshi Bhattarai, the immigration officer leading the investigation. “Since they do not have any supporting documents, our interrogation is based on their statements,” Bhattarai says. Karki, of the Global Campaign for the Release of Political Prisoners in Bhutan, says the case illustrates Bhutan’s impunity when it comes to expelling its own people and underscores the need for Nepal to establish refugee resettlement terms. “Without such measures,” he says, “Bhutan will now face less accountability and may find it easier to reject or expel refugees again.” 

This story was originally published by Global Press Journal

New York police arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters Wednesday after they occupied Reading Room 301 of Columbia University’s Butler Library.

The university called in the NYPD when demonstrators refused to leave or identify themselves. Officials highlighted safety concerns and the engagement of non-affiliated parties. Two campus security officers were hurt during a mob rush, BBC reported.

Online videos showed masked demonstrators entering the library and screaming slogans. Columbia has warned students that they may face disciplinary action for breaking campus policies.

Mayor Eric Adams said the arrests were made at the university’s request, affirming support for peaceful protest but not trespassing. Governor Kathy Hochul praised law enforcement and condemned campus disruption, according to BBC.

The Trump administration has warned 60 universities that funding may be withdrawn if antisemitism charges on campuses are not addressed.