With the world’s focus on the multinational spectacle that is the Olympic Winter Games in Russia, what better time to narrow that focus to a relatively small region that has no presence at the Games?
On Wednesday (Feb. 19), the Project Tibet Society will be in Banff to make a presentation to the public and prospective employers of Tibetan refugees who will be moving to Canada. The event takes place from 10 a.m. to noon at the Juniper Hotel. Project Tibet staff will be joined by Settlement Services staff from the Town of Banff.
The current goal for the Project Tibet Society, said director Nima Dorje, is to arrange the re-settlement of 1,000 displaced Tibetans, most of whom are living in exile in Arunachal Pradesh, a state in northeast India. Arunachal Pradesh is bordered by China, Bhutan and Myanmar.
Among the criteria for possible resettlement, said Dorje, “is a proven ability to successfully settle in Canada and basically, they must not be a burden and there are medical criteria.”
The Project Tibet Society is a non-profit that is looking settle Tibet natives in Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Vancovuer, Victoria, B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, and Banff, with 40 per cent to Ontario and 40 to Calgary and area.
To help the re-settlement process, the society is looking for employers, particularly those who can provide staff accommodation for Tibetans with landed immigrant status.
Many Tibetans currently living in exile in Arunachal Pradesh, said Dorje, have experience in the hospitality industry, some with five-star hotel management experience in India.
“We’ve recognized a shortage of that kind of labour in Banff,” said Dorje. “And we know there are a large number of friends in the community who can provide mentoring and support.”
In being a non-profit run by volunteers, said Dorje, “the government said in our case, it would grant 1,000 visas, but with no funding. If the government did this, it would cost $10 to $15 million. We can’t raise that money, but we want to settle the 1,000 people by 2016, so we have to bring them in to re-settlement situations.”
There are about 7,000 Tibetan exiles in Arunachal Pradesh and Project Tibet Society members initially did a triage to decide on 900 or so who “were most work-ready and needed the least amount of settlement help. At the end of November, we started bringing people into Canada.
“One of the reason we looked at Banff was because flooding in Calgary, washed away some affordable housing. And we want to see if we can develop a small, viable Tibetan community.”
According to Dorje, heads of households will be the first to be re-settled, with dependent family members joining them in three to seven months. “Our objective would be to have 40 to 60 people settled in Banff over two and a half years,” he said. “Enough to develop a small community, that would be close to about 400 Tibetans in Calgary.
“We feel 40 to 60 would be a critical mass for a community that would add to the cultural mosaic of a town like Banff.”
In all, of the likely Tibetan refugees, 80 per cent are in the 18- to 45-year-old demographic, with three-quarters having functional English.
“We’ll be targetting companies that use temporary foreign workers,” said Dorje. “By June of 2014, we’re hoping to have 200 in Canada. We feel it would be a win-win for Banff; the people would have equivalent skills and it saves a lot of paperwork for employers.”
Of those who have arrived in Canada, most are already working in jobs like grocery stores, restaurants, a propane heating company, a car dealership shop, and others.
“The intent is to have them become contributing members of the communities as quick as possible,” said Dorje. “Originally, they will be mostly single people and generally younger.”
Visit www.projecttibetsociety.ca for more information.
