Tibetans in Canada

by Brian J. Given, Ph.D.

All of the Tibetan immigrants to Canada are refugees. China's invasion of Tibet beginning in 1949, culminated the 1959 attempt to oust the forces of Chinese occupation. The tales of the Tibetan exodus of that year and those of individuals' subsequent escape from Tibet and survival as refugees from then until the present day are the common thread which links Tibetan communities in Asia, Europe and North America.

China's invasion of Tibet pitted modern weapons and mechanized warfare in the hands of seasoned troops against Tibetan weapons that were relics of an earlier style of warfare and against a peaceful people who were unprepared for violent conflict. Even so, over 400,000 people gave their lives in the defense of Tibet. The occupation by China resulted in the deaths of over one million Tibetans. The core of Tibetan culture also came under attack with the destruction of over 6,000 monastic communities. These monasteries were the religious, educational and administrative centers of Tibetan society.

China is now pursuing policies of forced assimilation more aggressively than ever, leaving only superficial vestiges of one of the world's oldest civilizations as window dressing for tourists and foreign observers. Massive population transfers from China, coupled with the abrogation of basic human rights for Tibetans, exacerbate the destruction of Tibet. Tibet's delicate ecosystem as headland for the waters of Asia is being irreparably damaged, as the forests of the Tibetan Plateau are clear-cut in the interest of China's economy.

The realization that their compatriots in Tibet are a subject people who look to them for protection and for the survival of Tibetan culture is a central concern for the Canadian refugee communities.

Initially, over 100,000 Tibetans followed the Dalai Lama into India and neighboring countries. The Tibetan government-in-exile coordinated efforts to provide for the needs of the refugees and to develop institutions to preserve Tibetan learning and culture while Tibetans were separated from their country. Most Tibetans believed, at the time, that their exile would be temporary.

Refugees continued to pour into India from Tibet after 1959 and it became clear that efforts to negotiate the restoration of Tibet's independence were unsuccessful. In 1967 the Dalai Lama appealed to the international community to accept Tibetan refugees as immigrants.