Tibetans in South Asia: a research note

Abstract

The research note provides an overview of Tibetan refugee settlements in South Asia, viz. in India, Nepal and Bhutan. The note focuses on the residential status of Tibetans and their life and livelihood. Tibetan refugees are viewed as representatives of Tibetan culture and religion in these countries.

Keywords:

• Tibetan Government-in-Exile
• Tibetan diaspora
• Tibetan NGOs

Notes

¹Tibetan government in exile refers to itself as the CTA, an administrative body that remains unrecognized as a government by any state, including India.

²MacPherson et al., Global Nomads: The Emergence of the Tibetan Diaspora.

³MacPherson et al., The Tibetan Diaspora: Adapting to Life outside Tibet.

⁴Tsering Palior, ‘Current situation of Tibetans in exile’.

⁵Harvey, ‘Tibet: 50 years from home’.

⁶MacPherson et al., Global Nomads: The Emergence of the Tibetan Diaspora.

⁷Prost, ‘The Problem with Rich Refugees, Sponsorships, Capital, and the Informal Economy of Tibetan Refugees- Modern Asian Studies’.

⁸Tibet Justice Centre, United States Congressional Record 119.

⁹According to the 1998 demographic survey of Tibetan exiles, the percentage of monks and nuns in the population approaches 24%, being regularly increased by the influx of monks and nuns coming from Tibet. Some of India's most prestigious Tibetan Buddhist colleges, such as the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics and the Nechung Tantric, are in Dharamsala.

¹⁰Nangsyal, Tenzin. ‘Apolitical agents of change’. Hindustan Times, September 13, 2009.

¹¹MacPherson et al., Global Nomads: The Emergence of the Tibetan Diaspora.

¹²Subedi, ‘The Problem of Bhutanese Refugees and Comparison with Tibetan Refugees In Nepal’.

¹³In Bhutan Tibetan refugees yearn to join protests. See: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSDEL25188520080401