Faces of Exile. Tibetans in India

India is home for almost one hundred thousand Tibetan diaspora. Refugees have been fleeing Tibet constantly since 1959 when China sealed its occupation decisively. XIVth Dalai Lama, spiritual and political leader of Tibet was forced to escape the country. Urgen Tenzin, director of Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, says that around 1300 Tibetan political prisoners are estimated to be inside Chinese prisons.

Central Tibetan Administration placed in Dharamsala, a small mountain town in northern India, efficiently manages the life of Tibetan community in exile. One of its crucial ministries is Department of Education. Every year more than one thousand new coming Tibetan refugees arrive to India. Most of them are youths seeking for better education. On 10^th March 1959 Chinese People’s Liberation Army brutally suppressed peaceful demonstration in the capitol of Tibet – Lhasa. On the anniversary of this event Tibet Solidarity Day is celebrated worldwide. These photographs were taken during Tibetan protests in Delhi was well as in Tibetan Children’s Village in Dharamsala.