Humanitarian Gesture: Canada and the Tibetan Resettlement Program, 1971–5

Summary

In 1966, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) lobbied Canadian officials to accept a small number of Tibetan refugees for permanent resettlement. Initially, Canadian immigration officials disagreed over the resettlement of “self-described nomads.” Ultimately, Canadian officials resettled an experimental group of 228 Tibetan refugees in an effort to meet their international humanitarian obligations and to find a permanent solution to the plight of Tibetan refugees in northern India.

by Jan Raska, PhD, Historian

In 1966, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) lobbied Canadian officials to accept a small number of Tibetan refugees for permanent resettlement. Initially, Canadian immigration officials disagreed over the resettlement of “self-described nomads.” Ultimately, Canadian officials resettled an experimental group of 228 Tibetan refugees in an effort to meet their international humanitarian obligations and to find a permanent solution to the plight of Tibetan refugees in northern India.

Read Jan Raska’s article, Humanitarian Gesture: Canada and the Tibetan Resettlement Program, 1971–5, published in the Canadian Historical Review.

Summary

In 1966, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) lobbied Canadian officials to accept a small number of Tibetan refugees for permanent resettlement. Initially, Canadian immigration officials disagreed over the resettlement of “self-described nomads.” Ultimately, Canadian officials resettled an experimental group of 228 Tibetan refugees in an effort to meet their international humanitarian obligations and to find a permanent solution to the plight of Tibetan refugees in northern India.

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