Tibetan refugee women in Nepal – full of life but formally non-existent: Paths from vulnerabilities to resilience

Ali, Annamari Nahide

4. term

Development and International Relations, Master

2016

Following Tibet’s 1959 annexation, many Tibetans fled; about 20,000 live in Nepal without formal refugee status or passports, rendering them stateless. This thesis examines how statelessness shapes the lives of Tibetan refugee women in Nepal and how they build resilience under these conditions. Drawing on interviews and participant observation in the Tashi Palkhel camp in Pokhara, the analysis uses Nussbaum and Sen’s capabilities approach alongside the concepts of vulnerability and resilience to identify what a good life requires, what is missing, and how women respond. The key vulnerabilities stem from statelessness: restricted mobility; lack of access to income, employment and property rights; prohibitions on political participation and assembly; limited access to education; and banishment from Tibet. Because ending statelessness is unlikely in the current context, women’s strategies focus on learning to live as well as possible with or despite these constraints. The study contributes to understanding Tibetan refugee women’s living conditions in Nepal and to developing a theoretical tool for social-scientific research on vulnerability and resilience.

Efter annekteringen af Tibet i 1959 flygtede mange tibetanere; omkring 20.000 bor i Nepal uden officiel flygtningestatus og uden pas, hvilket gør dem statsløse. Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan statsløshed former tibetanske flygtningekvinders liv i Nepal, og hvordan de udvikler resiliens under disse betingelser. Med udgangspunkt i interviews og deltagerobservation i Tashi Palkhel-lejren i Pokhara analyseres data i lyset af Nussbaum og Sens kapabilitetsansats samt begreberne sårbarhed og resiliens for at klarlægge, hvad et godt liv kræver, hvad der mangler, og hvordan kvinderne reagerer. De væsentligste sårbarheder udspringer af statsløshed: begrænset mobilitet; manglende adgang til indkomst, arbejde og ejendomsrettigheder; forbud mod politisk deltagelse og forsamling; begrænset adgang til uddannelse; samt forvisning fra Tibet. Da statsløshed næppe kan afskaffes i den nuværende kontekst, består kvindernes strategier i at lære at leve så godt som muligt med eller på trods af disse vilkår. Studiet bidrager med indblik i levevilkårene for tibetanske flygtningekvinder i Nepal og til udviklingen af et teoretisk redskab til at forbinde sårbarhed og resiliens i samfundsvidenskabelig forskning.

[This apstract has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project full text]

Tibetan refugees ; Vulnerability ; Resilience ; Refugee women ; Nepal ; Statelessness

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Ali, Annamari Nahide:

• Tibetan refugee women in Nepal – full of life but formally non-existent: Paths from vulnerabilities to resilience (2016)