India: Update to IND30746.E of 23 December 1998, CHN30745.E of 2 December 1998 and IND11239.E of 20 July 1992 on whether Tibetans resident in India are eligible to apply for Indian citizenship
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 March 1999 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | IND31502.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, India: Update to IND30746.E of 23 December 1998, CHN30745.E of 2 December 1998 and IND11239.E of 20 July 1992 on whether Tibetans resident in India are eligible to apply for Indian citizenship, 1 March 1999, IND31502.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aabd34.html [accessed 17 October 2022] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information regarding whether Tibetans resident in India are eligible to apply for Indian citizenship is conflicting among the sources available to the Research Directorate. In a telephone interview a consular official with the High Commission for the Republic of India confirmed that the statement cited in IND11239.E of 20 July 1992 to the effect that Tibetans resident in India are not eligible for Indian citizenship remained correct (8 March 1999).
However, two sources suggest that there are circumstances in which Tibetans are able to obtain Indian citizenship, corroborating the information from the International Campaign for Tibet presented in IND30746.E of 23 December 1998 and CHN30745.E of 2 December 1998. According to information sent from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Canberra to the Country Information Service of the Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, "Citizenship has been offered to second-generation Tibetans in India, although very few have taken up the offer (22 Nov. 1995)."
In an article on the Tibetan diaspora that appeared in the Tibet Journal, Kevin Garratt, a lawyer and author of various articles on human rights and migration, and a member of the 1991 and 1992 Australian Government Human Rights Delegations to China, stated that, for Tibetans in India:
[T]here appears to be no legal impediment to their applying for naturalization just as any other foreigner can do; the acquisition of Indian citizenship carries the right to obtain an Indian passport. Anecdotal evidence, however, suggests that few have followed this course and only in exceptional circumstances, generally for business reasons. The position of second generation Tibetans born there may well involve possession of a right to citizenship by birth (1997, 32-33).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Tibet Journal. [Dharamsala]. 1997. Vol. XXII, No. 3. Kevin Garratt. "Tibetan Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Returnees and the Refugees Convention - Predicaments, Problems and Prospects."
United Nations High Commission for Refugees, Canberra. 22 November 1995. Letter sent to the Country Information Service of the Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (CISNET).
Visa official, High Commission of the Republic of India. Ottawa. 8 March 1999. Telephone interview.
Attachment
Tibet Journal. [Dharamsala]. 1997. Vol. XXII, No. 3. Kevin Garratt. "Tibetan Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Returnees and the Refugees Convention - Predicaments, Problems and Prospects." pp. 18-56.
