TJC has launched a new comprehensive report on the situation for Tibetans in India which gives a clear overview of their legal status in India, and the impact on their lives as a result. The report is based on in-depth research in India conducted over the past 2 years, with research teams having traveled to 10 of the 12 states in India that host Tibetan refugees. TJC was partly supported in this research by Tibetan Legal Association and Boston University School of Law’s International Human Rights Law Clinic.
See report here – http://www.tibetjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/TJCIndiaReport2016.pdf
TJC believes it is important to understand the exact challenges that Tibetans in India face in order to be able to best service and protect the Tibetan communities in India. TJC hopes that many organizations, officials and individuals in India will find this information to be of use in their work.
The report’s conclusions also challenge the findings of the Belgium and Swiss government’s reports on the same topic, which were written in 2013 after a joint fact-finding trip to India was undertaken by both governments. Both the Belgian and Swiss governments appeared to change their approach to Tibetan asylum claimants after the 2013 report, leaving many Tibetans without proper status in these countries. These reports have also been quoted in other failed cases of Tibetan asylum seekers in other countries, including the UK. TJC’s new comprehensive report has resulted in conclusions that significantly differed from the Belgian and Swiss governments’ – including that Tibetans suffer social and economic hardships in India, are unable to claim Indian citizenship, and that some are vulnerable to arrest and deportation to China, where they face torture.