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Seventy-eight Tibetans granted residency, 56 denied

Seventy-eight of the 134 Tibetans living in exile in Taiwan who applied for residency earlier this month have received permission to stay in the country.

The Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC) said the other 56 failed to make it because the commission could not verify their status as Tibetan refugees.

More than 100 Tibetans living in Taiwan without proper documents staged a sit-in demonstration at Liberty Square in Taipei last December, asking the government to grant them asylum.

The majority entered Taiwan on tourist visas using Indian or Nepalese passports — many of which were forged — several years ago.

In response, the Legislative Yuan passed amendments to the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法) authorizing the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to grant them residency once their Tibetan refugee status was verified by the MTAC.

After an initial review, about 110 Tibetans who took part in the demonstration received temporary, one-year residency permits so they could stay in Taiwan legally while their applications for permanent residency were being processed.

After the residency application and verification process began, more people applied, bringing the total to 134.

“We carefully examined each case. We collected documents, including passports, birth certificates, school diplomas and anything else that could prove their identity,” MTAC chief secretary Chien Shih-yin (錢世英) told the Taipei Times by telephone.

The applicants were interviewed by the NIA and the MTAC, while the MTAC double-checked their documents, Chien said, adding that it was during this process that the commission questioned the refugee status of the 56.

“We understand that they may not all have obtained their passports via the proper channels, so we asked them to provide other documents or contact information of families or friends in India or Nepal,” Chien said.

“We contacted these people and the issuing authorities for the documents and found that some of the applicants had not told the truth or given false information,” Chien said.

Some of them were found to be unfamiliar with either basic Tibetan phrases or Tibetan costumes.

“We understand that many of them grew up in exile and may not speak Tibetan fluently or have an in-depth understanding of Tibetan culture. But we found it hard to believe that some of them didn't even know what a khata is,” Chien said.

A khata is a traditional Tibetan scarf-like item made of silk and is used by Tibetans when giving guests, Buddhist masters or Buddhas a gesture of respect or welcome.

Chien said the 56 applicants may file an appeal if they could find more evidence to support their claim.

However, some Tibetans, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Taipei Times that only those who would “were on good terms with MTAC officials” were granted residency.

Dawa Tsering, chairman of the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the de factor representative of the Tibetan government in exile in Taiwan, questioned the MTAC's verification process.

“The MTAC initially granted temporary residency to some 110 Tibetans, but now, about 20 to 30 of them did not pass the commission's second review,” Dawa said. “I don't understand this.”

When asked if he would help those rejected, Dawa said because the MTAC was founded on the belief that Tibet is part of the Republic of China, it was policy not to deal with it, but he added that they would do their best to help them.
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