Tibetans : From Refugees to Voters

By Deepak Parvatiyar

December 23, 2014

Tibetan refugees who were born in India between January 26, 1950 and July 1, 1987 now enjoy the right to vote for the ensuing Delhi Assembly elections as per a December 8 order of the Election Commission of India to Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer. Other states too will soon follow the line once the electoral rolls are revised.

The decision does not have the government’s consent but is legally valid as India’s citizenship law is very clear that the people born in India before July 1, 1987 and their children are citizens by birth.

Tibetans’ Right to Indian Citizenship Upheld by Courts

The issue of citizenship to Tibetan refugees though came into prominence following judgements on the issue of refugee status of Tibetans born in India between the stipulated period, in two separate yet identical cases respectively by the High Courts of Delhi in December 2010, and Karnataka in August 2013.  Both the High court rulings upheld the Tibetan petitioners’ right to an Indian passport as per the provisions under the country’s Citizenship Act, 1955.

The landmark judgments had much larger ramifications. They implied that the Tibetan refugees qualified for Indian passport also had the right to vote in Indian elections. The Election Commission wrote on February 7, 2014 to all states to enrol Tibetan refugees, born in India between the stipulated period, as voters, before the April-May 2014 General Elections. But a large section of Tibetans could not exercise their franchise as their documents could not be verified on time.

Another significant implication of the Delhi High Court judgement was with regard to job provisions for them in India. Citing the judgement, the Indian Nursing Council allowed Tibetan nurses born in India before July 1, 1987, to be registered with it so that they could practise their profession.

While little over one lakh Tibetan refugees live in India making India the largest host of Tibetans in exile, more than 35,000 Tibetans born between 1956 and 1987 now stand to qualify to be Indian citizens.

Indian citizenship and voting rights for Tibetans: A Complex Issue

The issue of Indian citizenship and voting rights for Tibetans is rather more complex and is involved in technicalities. In principle, neither the Indian government nor the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA or the Tibetan government in exile) appreciates such a move. Even the Election Commission acknowledges that the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs – the nodal ministry for the Citizenship Act – is “against giving voting rights to refugees in India…”

Reportedly, the China angle is quite significant for the government but Beijing had remained mum on both the Delhi and Karnataka high court rulings in the past.

Tibetans: No More Refugees Now?

Another question that is being raised now is: whether the Tibetans simultaneously enjoy both the status of refugees and citizens at the same time. But the status of Tibetans as refugees in India has been debatable since India is not a party to the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 protocol. Besides India does not have any specific legislation about refugee rights and protection either. The Tibetans in India are provided a registration card under the Foreigners Act of 1946 and they are required to register themselves at a Foreigner Registration Office every year (in some cases, every five years) to extend their stay here.

As of now, the Tibetan government-in-exile issues each Tibetan a “Green Book, which is proof of their original nationality”. The CTA, though, leaves the decision to apply for Indian or any other country’s citizenship to the individuals and considers that to be a “personal choice”.

The Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Dr Lobsang Sangay, who incidentally is himself a US Green Cardholder, recently told an interviewer that the CTA “cannot compel” any Tibetan to apply for Indian citizenship “as the application process entails surrendering both Registration Certificate (RC) and Identity Certificate (IC) documents to the Indian authorities”.

The request for NOCs by India-born Tibetans though has thus far been very less as many still see voting in Indian elections as the dilution of the dream of a Free Tibet. Will this perception change now?

Given their insignificant numbers, Tibetans cannot emerge as a ‘vote bank’. Yet, as citizens, they may be able to buy land in their adopted country – a privilege that they could not enjoy as a foreign refugee.