According to MHA’s 2009 figures, the major concentration of Tibetan refugees is in Karnataka (44,468), Himachal Pradesh (21,980), Arunachal Pradesh (7,530), Uttarakhand (8,545), West Bengal (5,785) and Jammu and Kashmir (6,920). Tibetan refugees began pouring into India in the wake of the flight of the Dalai Lama from Tibet in 1959.
Where are the Tibetan refugees in India?
The major concentrations of the Tibetan refugees were in Karnataka-21,353, Himachal Pradesh-14,973, Arunachal Pradesh-4,759, Uttarakhand- 4,828, West Bengal-3,079, and the Union Territory of Ladakh-6,987, the IANS news service Apr 27 cited the report as saying.
Who is in charge of the Tibetan settlements in India?
While the Indian Government has ultimate authority over the settlements and takes charge in any criminal matters, in practice the Tibetan administrators work to maintain good relations with local communities and generally are given a free hand to run the day-to-day affairs of the settlements (Liaison Officer 19 Mar 2003).
Why have Tibetan refugees been so successful?
The reasons for the ‘success’ of the Tibetan refugee community are sociological as well as political. A few of these come from Girija Saklaini’s explanations as noted by her during her anthropological study of Tibetan refugees: such as work ethics, lack of sexual division of labour, simple entrepreneurship.
Who was the first Prime Minister of India to help Tibetan refugees?
In the instant case of Tibetan refugees, it was Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India who came to their rescue. Right from the beginning in 1959, Jawaharlal Nehru showed keen personal interest in the Tibetan refugee problems.
Where is the largest settlement of Tibetan refugees in India?
Bylakuppe is the second largest Tibetan settlement in the world outside Tibet after Dharamshala. It is located to the west of Mysore district in the Indian state of Karnataka which is roughly 80 km from Mysore city....Bylakuppe.Bylakuppe Shanghapornigy HongyClimateTropical wet and dry (Köppen)20 more rows
Which is the largest refugee settlement of Tibetan refugees?
Because the settlements have limited agricultural land, more recent Tibetan refugees have settled mainly in the northern Indian hill station of Dharamsala, the Dalai Lama's home-in-exile (Representative 20 Mar 2003).
Where are the Tibetan refugees in India?
According to MHA's 2009 figures, the major concentration of Tibetan refugees is in Karnataka (44,468), Himachal Pradesh (21,980), Arunachal Pradesh (7,530), Uttarakhand (8,545), West Bengal (5,785) and Jammu and Kashmir (6,920).
Where do most Tibetans live in India?
There are also nearly 100,000 Tibetans living in exile in India since 1959. The majority of them living in Tibetan enclaves such as Dharamshala and Bylakuppe.
Which country has most Tibetan refugees?
Most Tibetan refugees pass through Nepal to India, where The 14th Dalai Lama resides.
How many Tibetan refugees live in India?
The Tibetan Refugees are approximately numbering 1,10,095 as per the 2009 figure. These Tibetan Refugees are located in 45 number of settlements spread out mainly in 10 States of India. Many Tibetans are also living outside these settlements.
Which place is known as Little Tibet of India?
LadakhLadakh, 'Little Tibet', Comes of Age.
Why are Tibetan refugees in India?
In an attempt to save themselves and their identity after a failed revolt against the Chinese in 1959, the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetans came to NEFA (now Arunachal Pradesh) in India. They were immediately granted asylum by the Indian Government and relief operations were kick-started.
Are Tibetan refugees Indian citizens?
Tibetan refugees are not considered refugees under the Indian law, but foreigners.
Why Tibetans live in Mcleodganj?
After being driven out by the Chinese, many Tibetans fled to India in icy weather conditions. They crossed the border and settled in the hill-station of Mcleodganj, where they have formed a government-in-exile. The little town also serves as an Indian military base.
Where did Tibetan refugees go?
5 days agoOver the last seven years, the Tibetan refugee community in India has dropped by 44 percent, from around 150,000 in 2011 to 85,000, according to Indian government data. Tibetan authorities say most are going to countries such as the United States, Canada, Germany and Switzerland.
How many Tibetans live in Mcleodganj?
Unofficial estimates from the Foreigners Registration office in Dharamshala indicate the number could be as high as around 100 Tibetans of estimated 15,000-strong Mcleodganj's population having migrated each year in the past two years.
Why are Tibetan refugees in India?
In an attempt to save themselves and their identity after a failed revolt against the Chinese in 1959, the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetans came to NEFA (now Arunachal Pradesh) in India. They were immediately granted asylum by the Indian Government and relief operations were kick-started.
How many Tibetans live in Bylakuppe?
Now, Bylakuppe is home to around 20,000 Tibetans, the second-largest Tibetan settlement in the world after Dharamsala.
Are Tibetan refugees Indian citizens?
Tibetan refugees are not considered refugees under the Indian law, but foreigners.
Who are the refugees in India?
There are today around 21,000 Afghans living in India, of them around 11,000 are registered as asylum seekers. Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar's Rakhine state had been targeted by the Buddhist majority for several decades. They are not acknowledged as citizens by the ruling military junta.
Where did the Tibetan refugees live?
By 1960, it became readily apparent that the Tibetan refugees would be residing in India for an extended period of time, and the construction of permanent facilities to accommodate them became an issue of great pertinence. To address this need, the South Indian state of Karnataka offered up three thousand acres of jungle-land for the construction of a massive refugee camp near Bylakuppe. Thousands of Tibetans were soon sent to this location; where they carved a niche for themselves out of the wild jungle and, essentially, created a “Little Tibet” upon the humid flatlands of Southern India. Now, forty-six years later, the camp is home to 14,000 Tibetans spanning three generations, towering sky-high monasteries, flourishing agricultural fields, and an entire range of well-established public facilities. All of this provides one with the impression that the Tibetans have created a permanent base for themselves in India; but, as any refugee will readily proclaim, their stay is thought of in purely provisional terms. The exiled Tibetans have not yet given up hope that their homeland will be liberated and that, within their lifetimes, they will be able to return. Tibet is on the minds and lips of the entire community, and, although most of the refugees have never laid eyes on their homeland’s mountainous terrain, it still lives on within their hearts.
Why were the Tibetan refugees given handouts?
Essentially, the hand-outs that were given to the fleeing Tibetans allowed them to achieve a much higher living standard within a single generation than the Indian population had ever known in millennia of agricultural toil. This seeming unfairness on the part of the Indian government was the impetus behind violent conflicts between the local Indians and Tibetans during the initial stages of the settlement. But I was told by a Tibetan community leader that this strife has since simmered down and that the refugees and Indians now live in harmony: “We go to their celebrations and they come to ours,” he said. But I still harbor doubts as to how harmonious this apparent symbiosis between the well-off foreigners and the impoverished locals could possibly be.
Why did the Indian government do so much altruism?
The official reason for the Indian Government’s excessive altruism was that they wanted to allow the decimated Tibetan population the space and gravity needed to preserve their culture. Many Tibetans in the Bylakuppe camp mimicked the above reasoning, and said that they were very grateful for India’s understanding and assistance. But I also have the impression that there was a driving pressure on the Indian government to administer a degree of control over the unsettled Tibetans, and also to move a potentially militaristic population, with a justified vendetta against the Chinese, as far away from the borderlands as possible. The jungles of Southern India were an appropriate answer to all scenarios.
What were the challenges of the Tibetan exiles?
After the jungles were cleared, the problem of cultivating the land became another great challenge to the Tibetan exiles. In Tibet, most of the refugees were pastoral nomads who, for the most part, knew neither grain nor how to sow it. Therefore, as Mrs. Tsering, put it, “We not only had to learn, but we also had to survive.” This theme seems to have been taken to heart, as the Tibetans slowly learned cultivation methods from the small minority who had previously practiced agriculture in Tibet, as well as from the assistance provided by foreign NGOs. The hardworking Tibetans soon molded their fields into fertile oases, which have become so profitable that laborers from the local Indian community are now regularly employed to cultivate them.
What is the ghost city of China?
Ghost Cities of China is a book which recounts the two and a half years I spent on the ground investigating China’s empty new cities. Pull back the dark veil on the New China and find out what the country is really all about.
Where were the Bylakuppe camps?
The Bylakuppe Tibetan refugee camp was created in the south western portion of Karnataka state, which is located in the far south of peninsular India- over two thousand kilometers from Tibet. This was the first and largest of the intentional Tibetan settlements in India, and was created in response to the need to consolidate the masses of Tibetans who were fleeing the Chinese occupation of their homeland. Initially, the Tibetans formed haphazard habitations around the Indian border states of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Assam, and Himalachal Pradesh; where they found only modest amounts of governmental support, and lived in loosely assembled camps. Many Tibetan refugees died as a result of living in these highly crowded and unsanitary conditions. This unsteady state of affairs provoked the Indian government to construct a very large settlement in the far south of the country for the exiles to reside in.
Where did Tibetan refugees settle?
Response: Tibetan refugees have settled in India by the tens of thousands since 1959, when the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and many of his followers fled to northern India to escape a Chinese crackdown (Representative 20 Mar 2003).
Who has ultimate authority over the Tibetan settlements?
While the Indian Government has ultimate authority over the settlements and takes charge in any criminal matters, in practice the Tibetan administrators work to maintain good relations with local communities and generally are given a free hand to run the day-to-day affairs of the settlements (Liaison Officer 19 Mar 2003).
How long is a Tibetan identity certificate valid?
The certificates are valid for one year and renewable. Tibetans must carry the Residential Certificate when travelling within India. For international travel, Tibetan refugees resident in India use an 'Identity Certificate' issued by the Home Ministry valid for two years and renewable. When stamped with a 'no objection to return to India stamp' ...
How long do Tibetans stay in Nepal?
Nepalese authorities want Tibetans who are processed by the UNHCR to be out of the country within two weeks. In practice, most such Tibetans remain in Nepal only until there are enough of them to fill one of the buses that are used to transport them to the Dalai Lama's home-in-exile at Dharamsala, India. This wait can take anywhere from one week to several months. The departing Tibetans receive a group exit permit from the [Nepalese] Department of Immigration that is taken from them when they cross the border with India. This means that most Tibetans enter India without any valid papers (Vice President 19 Mar 2003).
What is the central Tibetan administration?
The Central Tibetan Administration is the network of Tibetan-run agencies in Dharamsala that effectively functions as a government-of-Tibet-in-exile. The number two official in each settlement is a camp leader elected by the refugees (Liaison Officer 19 Mar 2003).
Why are there so few Tibetans in India?
Very few Tibetans who have reached India in recent years have gone to the several dozen Tibetan settlements in that country. The reason is a shortage of land . The settlements are primarily agricultural, with farmland allotted to individual families, and there is not enough land to accommodate new arrivals.
Can Tibetans travel to India?
Tibetans traveling to India via Nepal generally lack valid travel documents, and most are unable to obtain legal residence permits once they reach India. Most enter Nepal from Tibet through isolated mountain passes and lack Nepalese visas or any official travel papers (TIN 15 Feb 2002).
What happens to the Tibetan community when the host state is a refugee?
Firstly, it becomes clear that if the host State’s political leadership and the community shares ethnic and religious or spiritual connections with the refugee group, the settlement of the refugee group becomes peaceful and expedient. In this case, the people of India found spiritual connection with the Dalai Lama and empathised with the Tibetan Community. This helped avoid regional conflicts and violence, which would otherwise be plausible.
Why did the Tibetan refugees succeed?
The reasons for the ‘success’ of the Tibetan refugee community are sociological as well as political. A few of these come from Girija Saklaini’s explanations as noted by her during her anthropological study of Tibetan refugees: such as work ethics, lack of sexual division of labour, simple entrepreneurship.
What did the fact that the Tibetan people figured in that official policy mean?
Though it was the last component of India’s foreign policy, the fact that the Tibetan people figured in that official policy meant that the question of Tibetan refugees was high on India’s agenda. It made a tremendous difference to the Tibetan refugees in India.
How do refugees impact society?
The other beneficial type of refugee impact on host society is the extension of Tibetan facilities to the host population. Most of the Tibetan settlements are located in remote parts of India which had not received much attention from New Delhi in terms of developmental funds and projects. With the establishment of Tibetan settlements in such areas, the surrounding Indian or Nepali villages began to receive side benefits. Tibetan schools and hospitals are open to the host population as well. While digging tube wells or making irrigation canals for the Tibetan refugees, foreign charity organizations also have sponsored similar schemes for the surrounding local village as well. To such remote and poor villagers in India or Nepal, the establishment of a Tibetan colony in their locality means new jobs, more business opportunities and new modern facilities.
Where did the Dalai Lama take refuge?
When the Dalai Lama took refuge in Dharamshala in India, his ministers and advisors came along with him.
How did the government provide for settlements?
The government provided for settlements by requesting various State governments to allot land for such settlements. Many of them answered Nehru’s call. Further, Bhutan and Nepal also provide land for refugee settlements. Another reason for successful settlement is also sociological is nature.
Who was the first Prime Minister of India to rescue Tibetan refugees?
In the instant case of Tibetan refugees, it was Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India who came to their rescue. Right from the beginning in 1959, Jawaharlal Nehru showed keen personal interest in the Tibetan refugee problems. One of the main reasons was that his China policy was severely criticized in India throughout ...
Where do Tibetan refugees go?
Note the head straps for carrying heavy loads. Most Tibetan refugees pass through Nepal to India, where The 14th Dalai Lama resides. The larger of the other communities are in the United States, Canada ( e.g. Toronto ), the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, France, Taiwan and Australia.
Where is the Tibetan Refugee Self Help Centre?
Tibetan Refugee Self Help Centre 's Hill Top Shop in Darjeeling, India taken in September 2004. It was established on 2 October 1959, the same year the Prime Minister Nehru gave refuge to The 14th Dalai Lama his Tibetan government-in-exile.
Why did Tibetans settle in Bhutan?
Few Tibetans settled in Bhutan after 1959, as the country was used mainly as a transit route to India. However, in 1961, following growing tensions between China and India, India sealed its northern border with Bhutan, prompting Bhutan to arrange an emergency meeting with the Government of India (GOI) and the CTA to deal with the Tibetans stuck in the country. The government of Bhutan agreed to take in 4000 settlers, although ordinary Bhutanese became increasingly resentful of the Tibetan immigrants because of their refusal to assimilate into Bhutanese culture. In 1974, 28 Tibetans, including the representative of the 14th Dalai Lama in Thimphu, were arrested and accused of a conspiracy to assassinate King Jigme Singye Wangchuck. When the CTA refused to provide evidence of their innocence, relations between Bhutan and Dharamshala soured, and in 1979, the Government of Bhutan announced that any Tibetan in the country that did not take Bhutanese citizenship would be repatriated back to China. Despite the CTA's opposition, 2300 Tibetans applied for the Bhutanese citizenship; most of the remainder re-settled in India.
How many Tibetans followed the Dalai Lama to India?
During the 1959 Tibetan uprising, the 14th Dalai Lama and some of his government fled to India. From 1959 to 1960, about 80,000 Tibetans followed the Dalai Lama to India through the Himalayas. Continued flights, estimated in the numbers of 1,000 to 2,500 a year, increased these numbers to 100,000.
What is the Tibetan diaspora?
Tibetan diaspora. The Tibetan diaspora are the diaspora of Tibetan people living outside China . Tibetan emigration has three separate stages. The first stage was in 1959 following the 14th Dalai Lama 's escape to Dharamshala in India, in fear of persecution from the People's Liberation Army. The second stage occurred in ...
How many Tibetans arrive in Dharamshala every year?
A 2008 documentary directed by Richard Martini claimed that 3,000–4,500 Tibetans arrive at Dharamshala every year. Most new immigrants are children who are sent to Tibetan cultural schools. Many political activists, including monks, have also crossed over through Nepal to India.
How many Tibetans were in India in 2009?
According to a US cable put out by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, from 1980 to November 2009, 87,096 Tibetans arrived in India and registered at the Dharamsala reception center, whereas 46,620 returned to Tibet after a pilgrimage in India. Most of those staying are children to attend Tibetan Children's Villages school.
