Citizenship to Tibetan refugees

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Home Affairs
14-December, 2016 16:35 IST
Citizenship to Tibetan refugees

Election Commission of India vide its letters dated 07.02.2014 & 08.12.2014 have directed Chief Electoral Officers of all States/Union Territory Administrations to determine the citizenship of persons born in India as per the provisions of section 3(1)(a) & 3(1)(b) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 for enrolment.

The Central Government had issued instructions in 2010 that all Tibetan Refugees born in India irrespective of the year of their birth would not automatically become Indian Citizens by birth under section 3(1)(a) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 unless they get themselves registered with the Government under section 5 of the Act. The Passport Authorities are, therefore not processing their applications for issue of passports but are considering them only for issue of Travel Documents in the form of Certificate of Identity, treating them as stateless persons settled in India. However, such persons are being issued Indian Passports on the directions of Courts.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir in written reply to a question by Smt. Wansuk Syiem in the Rajya Sabha today.

*****

 

[Hindustani78]

A Tibetan market at Lakkar Bazaar in Shimla. India is home to an estimated 1.5 lakh Tibetans, most of who live in 35 settlements across the country from Himachal Pradesh to Karnataka (HT file)


http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...go-benefits/story-jBsKDOitUKmDACZ1DP2jFK.html

Tibetans seeking an Indian passport will need to leave their settlements and forfeit privileges and benefits from the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), which is the Tibetan government-in-exile headquartered in McLeodganj near Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, the external affairs ministry said in its recent order.

A letter by the Bengaluru regional passport office on June 6 listed four conditions for Tibetans seeking an Indian passport.

“Registration/refugee certificate (RC) and identity certificate should be cancelled; the applicant should not be staying in designated Tibetan refugee settlements; an undertaking that he/she no longer enjoys CTA benefits; and a declaration that he/she no longer enjoys any privileges, including subsidies by being an RC holder,” the letter says.

India is home to an estimated 1.5 lakh Tibetans, most of who live in 35 settlements across the country from Himachal Pradesh to Karnataka.

A monk in Bengaluru was asked by the regional passport officer not only to surrender his RC or stay permit for Tibetans but also fulfil the conditions as per the new rules.

“The CTA has clarified that to apply for an Indian passport is a personal choice of any Tibetan. So we can’t say anything about the new rules,” an official of the Tibetan government-in-exile said.

He was unwilling to be named as he’s not authorised to speak to the media.

‘Getting passport makes us homeless’


In September 2016, the Delhi high court ruled that Tibetans born in India on January 26, 1950, to July 1, 1987, are Indian citizens by birth and should be issued passports under the citizenship act. The order was passed on a public interest litigation by Lobsang Wangyal, the founder of the Miss Tibet pageant, and two others.

“The MEA’s riders have put Tibetans in a dilemma. Getting a passport may make us homeless. This is like asking a Tibetan to become homeless for a second time. We have been asked to leave the home where we were born and have lived our life,” says Wangyal.

He said two Tibetan women from Karnataka’s Bylakuppe, who applied for a passport in Bengaluru, were told that they must provide a different address other than their settlement if their applications were to be processed.

“The rules are ambiguous when they say that an applicant can no longer enjoy CTA benefits,” Wangyal says.

He says the CTA is an independent entity run by exiled Tibetans to work for a free Tibet and the welfare of the community. The order means that Tibetans, after getting an Indian passport, are no longer a part of the CTA.

Wangyal says quoting a lawyer, Simarpal Sawhney, that the new MEA rules for Tibetans violate Article 14 (equality before law) and Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution and can be challenged in court.

He says due to lack of clarity about the order among officials at regional passport offices, Tibetans are being denied the Indian passport.

 

[nang2]

What are CTA benefits?

 

[Hindustani78]

What are CTA benefits?

7 CTA Departments, is responsible for all the rehabilitation schemes for Tibetans in exile. There are 46 Tibetan Settlement Offices, 71 Settlements and Cluster Units, 12 Major Agricultural Settlements, 21 Small Agricultural Settlements, 20 Co-operative Societies, 20 Handicraft Centres and 20 Cluster Units in India, Nepal and Bhutan.

The Department works in close cooperation with the Government of India and international organizations involved in helping Tibetans to improve their lot. Employment generation and promoting self-reliance among the Tibetan populace has been the chief task of the Department since it came into being. People at the grassroots level have the right to either elect their own settlement/welfare officers or request appointees from the Home Department. Thus far, most of the settlements have decided in favour of appointees from the Department. However, the CTA is making concerted efforts to encourage people to elect their own grassroots level heads, as this is seen to be an essential milestone on the way to Tibetan political maturity.

 

[nang2]

7 CTA Departments, is responsible for all the rehabilitation schemes for Tibetans in exile. There are 46 Tibetan Settlement Offices, 71 Settlements and Cluster Units, 12 Major Agricultural Settlements, 21 Small Agricultural Settlements, 20 Co-operative Societies, 20 Handicraft Centres and 20 Cluster Units in India, Nepal and Bhutan.

The Department works in close cooperation with the Government of India and international organizations involved in helping Tibetans to improve their lot. Employment generation and promoting self-reliance among the Tibetan populace has been the chief task of the Department since it came into being. People at the grassroots level have the right to either elect their own settlement/welfare officers or request appointees from the Home Department. Thus far, most of the settlements have decided in favour of appointees from the Department. However, the CTA is making concerted efforts to encourage people to elect their own grassroots level heads, as this is seen to be an essential milestone on the way to Tibetan political maturity.

Thanks for the reference. But I was asking about CTA benefits, not CTA itself. What are the benefits?

 

[Hindustani78]

Thanks for the reference. But I was asking about CTA benefits, not CTA itself. What are the benefits?

Ofcourse, micro financing , health and education, they will do everything for the uplifting of Tibetian Refugees inside Republic of India and even EU is helping the Tibetian Refugees . As you know International donors .

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/630602/npp-urges-people-not-worry.html

The Arunachal Pradesh unit of the National People’s Party (NPP) today urged the people not to worry over the implementation of the Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy 2014.

“The policy will not make any impact on the socio-economic development and change the state’s demography. Rather we should stand together to extend our solidarity for the cause of the Tibetans who are fighting for genuine autonomous region within the People’s Republic of China,” the party said in a statement.

The party in an emergency meeting chaired by state unit president Gicho Kabak, who is also the President of Tibet Support Group of Arunachal Pradesh, appreciate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju for adopting the Tibetan refugee rehabilitation Policy on humanitarian ground.

The party further appreciated the decision of the state cabinet to implement the policy in the state.

In order to streamline the process of facilities to be given to the Tibetan refugees, the Centre had formalized the Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy 2014 and accordingly directed the Arunachal Pradesh government to implement the same, he said.

The party’s spokesman said that the Centre had directed the state government to implement the welfare schemes for the Tibetan refugees and further directed the state governments to extend a 20-year land lease agreement.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/632312/tibetan-refugee-policy-earlier-adopted.html

Press Trust of India, Itanagar, Sep 9 2017, 22:07 IST

A day after Congress described the adoption of Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy, 2014 by Arunachal Pradesh government as 'whimsical', BJP today said extension of this policy by the Centre is actually a continuation of one adopted by Congress earlier.

"The Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy, 2014, extended by Narendra Modi government is nothing but a continuation of the existing policy," state BJP senior vice-president Dominic Tadar said in a statement.

The central policy with the Tibetan refugees have been extended by consecutive central governments in the past including the government led by Congress, he said.

Arunachal Pradesh's BJP government decided to adopt the Tibetan Rehabilitation Policy, 2014, in the state last month and there have been protests in the state since then.

State Congress president Takam Sanjoy yesterday said that the decision to adopt the policy was "whimsical" decision to adopt the Policy, 2014, will create a new social disorder in Arunachal Pradesh if implemented.

The guideline of the policy states that Tibetan refugees may be allowed to undertake any economic activity and relevant license or permit may be issued to them, and they are also permitted to take jobs in any field.

Sanjoy said the policy was prepared by the Centre without consulting any state government.

As per a 2009 estimate, 1,10,095 Tibetan refugees are living in 45 settlement areas in different parts of the country including Tenzing Gaon, Miao and Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP state president said.

The facilities would extended only to Registration Card Holders as refugees certified by the Central Tibetan Relief Committee (CTRC), Tadar said.

The Government of India consults with the CTRC on regular basis on the problems of Tibetan refugees, he said.

Tadar said the 20-year lease agreements of land for settlement and other businesses are signed only with CTRC and no individual Tibetans can do so.

The settlements of refugees are restricted to only demarcated areas as per lease agreement with the respective state governments which are being regulated by the Centre from time to time with CTRC.

 

[Hindustani78]

New Delhi, October 23, 2017 00:00 IST
Updated: October 23, 2017 00:31 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/rules-to-be-eased-for-tibetan-refugees/article19902273.ece

Exit permit for foreign travel may go
India is all set to simplify travel rules for Tibetan refugees who want to visit foreign countries.

Currently they have to secure an “exit permit” from the Home Ministry before applying for a visa with any foreign mission. The Centre wants to do away with the “redundant” procedure, a senior government official told The Hindu.

The official said the refugees would be provided with a no-objection certificate at the time of issuance of identity certificates and that would be enough for them to travel to any foreign country.

“The present rules are such that a Tibetan refugee has to apply for an exit permit every time he or she has to travel abroad. Since identity certificates are issued after carrying out due diligence and background check, the exit permit is an unnecessary requirement,” said the official.

He said the Home Ministry would soon get approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). The Ministry of External Affairs will then issue a notification informing all foreign missions of the exit permit clause being removed.

As per the latest Home Ministry data, more than one lakh Tibetan refugees are settled in India. Major concentrations of the Tibetan refugees are in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and J&K. Tibetan refugees began pouring into India in the wake of the flight of the Dalai Lama from Tibet in 1959.

The government decided to give them asylum as well as assistance towards temporary settlement.

In 2015, the NDA government came out with a new policy for the Tibetan refugees and sanctioned a scheme for providing grant-in-aid of ₹40 crore to the Dalai Lama’s Central Tibetan Relief Committee (CTRC) for five years.

The Union government released ₹16 crore in the past two years to meet the administrative and social welfare expenses of 36 Tibetan settlement offices in different States.

 

[SBUS-CXK]

A Tibetan market at Lakkar Bazaar in Shimla. India is home to an estimated 1.5 lakh Tibetans, most of who live in 35 settlements across the country from Himachal Pradesh to Karnataka (HT file)


http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...go-benefits/story-jBsKDOitUKmDACZ1DP2jFK.html

Tibetans seeking an Indian passport will need to leave their settlements and forfeit privileges and benefits from the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), which is the Tibetan government-in-exile headquartered in McLeodganj near Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, the external affairs ministry said in its recent order.

A letter by the Bengaluru regional passport office on June 6 listed four conditions for Tibetans seeking an Indian passport.

“Registration/refugee certificate (RC) and identity certificate should be cancelled; the applicant should not be staying in designated Tibetan refugee settlements; an undertaking that he/she no longer enjoys CTA benefits; and a declaration that he/she no longer enjoys any privileges, including subsidies by being an RC holder,” the letter says.

India is home to an estimated 1.5 lakh Tibetans, most of who live in 35 settlements across the country from Himachal Pradesh to Karnataka.

A monk in Bengaluru was asked by the regional passport officer not only to surrender his RC or stay permit for Tibetans but also fulfil the conditions as per the new rules.

“The CTA has clarified that to apply for an Indian passport is a personal choice of any Tibetan. So we can’t say anything about the new rules,” an official of the Tibetan government-in-exile said.

He was unwilling to be named as he’s not authorised to speak to the media.

‘Getting passport makes us homeless’


In September 2016, the Delhi high court ruled that Tibetans born in India on January 26, 1950, to July 1, 1987, are Indian citizens by birth and should be issued passports under the citizenship act. The order was passed on a public interest litigation by Lobsang Wangyal, the founder of the Miss Tibet pageant, and two others.

“The MEA’s riders have put Tibetans in a dilemma. Getting a passport may make us homeless. This is like asking a Tibetan to become homeless for a second time. We have been asked to leave the home where we were born and have lived our life,” says Wangyal.

He said two Tibetan women from Karnataka’s Bylakuppe, who applied for a passport in Bengaluru, were told that they must provide a different address other than their settlement if their applications were to be processed.

“The rules are ambiguous when they say that an applicant can no longer enjoy CTA benefits,” Wangyal says.

He says the CTA is an independent entity run by exiled Tibetans to work for a free Tibet and the welfare of the community. The order means that Tibetans, after getting an Indian passport, are no longer a part of the CTA.

Wangyal says quoting a lawyer, Simarpal Sawhney, that the new MEA rules for Tibetans violate Article 14 (equality before law) and Article 21 (right to life and personal liberty) of the Constitution and can be challenged in court.

He says due to lack of clarity about the order among officials at regional passport offices, Tibetans are being denied the Indian passport.

Thanks of India, Please provide enough food for them. They have the right to enjoy higher treatment than indians.

 

[Sam Vaish]

Thanks of India, Please provide enough food for them. They have the right to enjoy higher treatment than indians.

They are treated equally and what do you mean by enough food.

 

[SBUS-CXK]

They are treated equally and what do you mean by enough food.

That's very bad. They may face severe hunger.

If they can enjoy privileges, their life expectancy should be higher than that of indians. Anyway, take care, my Tibet refugee.

 

[beijingwalker]

Thank India for taking them, Now they are Indians who have nothing to do with China.

 

[rott]

They Tibetans are to be blamed for leaving their own country and getting settled in another country which cannot even feed their own people. Good riddance.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/hi...ons-for-tibetans-in-exile-relaxed/516899.html

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, December 21

The Government of India has relaxed stay and travel regulations for Tibetan exiles living in India. According to a circular issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, regulations regarding renewal of residential/registration certificates for Tibetans in India have been relaxed and the validity and the number of entry for return visas for those who wish to travel abroad have been increased from single to multiple entry lasting up to a year.

Responding to the decision, which was made public recently, president of Central Tibetan Administration Lobsang Sangay thanked the Government of India for relaxing the regulations. He said: “Over the years, Kashag and the Bureau of the Dalai Lama have been pursuing the matter with the Indian government and on many occasion have requested for provisions to ease travel for Tibetans holding Identity Certificate and to facilitate easy process for renewal of registration certificate for Tibetans living in India.”

As per the circular released by the Government of India Tibetan migrants who are registered online may be granted residential/registration certificate for 5 years and such certificates may be renewed for five years on each occasion as and when applicable. However, if a Tibetan migrant faces difficulty in online registration and desires renewal of residential/registration certificate without online registration, his/her residential/registration certificate may be renewed as per extant instructions in which registration will be valid for one year with provision of extension by one year on each occasion.

The present instructions of issuing five-year extension of residential certificate to those Tibetan migrants, who have stayed in India for more than 20 years, will continue to remain valid. The circular also states that transfer of residential/registration certificate in case of migrants shifting from one place to another may also be done online, avoiding need for personal visits and delays in manual transfer of registration.

Tibetan migrants, who wish to visit abroad, may be granted one year multiple entry return visa. This one-year return visa will be given to Tibetan migrants whose cases are recommended by the Central Tibetan Administration.