US Lawmakers Approve Provision for 5,000 Visas for Tibetan Refugees

By Osmar Fuentes / May 29, 2013;

Dianne Feinstein, senior United States Senator, California
Photo: Phayul

US lawmakers have approved a provision to allow 5,000 visas for Tibetan refugees living in Nepal and India to enter America over the next three years. This provision comes as an amendment to a larger immigration bill reform currently being considered within Congress.

Senator Dianne Feinstein made the proposal, supported by Senator Chuck Schumer and Chairman Patrick Leahy, citing the terrible treatment of Tibetans at the hands of the Chinese authorities, the increase in self-immolations, and the mounting pressures on Tibetan resettlement facilities. However, the Tibetan visa provision will come into effect only after the wider immigration bill is passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives and becomes law – a process which can take months.

Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay extended warm thanks for this support. “This provision will provide a great boost to Tibetans….[and] provides a timely support for Tibetans as they struggle against a new wave of repressive Chinese policies,” said Sikyong. “[It] represents a tangible continuation of the longstanding and bipartisan support of the United States for Tibet.”

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan leadership see immigration programmes such as this as a means of achieving their vision of a healthy and prosperous diaspora as a key to helping to preserve the Tibetan culture and well being of its people in exile.

This US provision for displaced Tibetans is similar to one made under the Immigration Act of 1990 when the US Congress approved 1,000 visas for refugees. It is also comparable to the Canadian immigration program approved in 2010 which allowed 1,000 Tibetan refugees to migrate to Canada from the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Just last week, Home Kalon Dolma Gyari visited Tibetan settlements in northeastern India, where she met the first group of 204 prospective immigrants under this Canada Resettlement Project. They are expected to begin migrating to Canada in July.