Dawa Tsering

By Vilhelm Stokstad – Dawa Tsering came to Sweden in 2005 to seek political asylum. In 2008 his application was rejected and he was to be sent back to Tibet. He was involved in some anti-regime activities in his hometown of Shegatse, when he found out that the Chinese government might have identified him he had to leave. After seven days of walking through the barren wasteland, he reached a town bordering to Nepal. There he could get help by some friends and cross the border hidden in the backseat of a taxi. Six months later, still in Nepal, he managed to save enough money to get some false papers and a plane ticket to Europe and finally Sweden. But in Sweden, no embassy will recognise that he is from Tibet, China refuses him, as they don’t acknowledge Tibet. Nepal refuses him for the obvious reason that he is not Nepalese. And he has no place in India. Because his application for asylum was denied, he is not allowed to work in Sweden anymore, and not allowed any kind of education, not even SFI, Swedish for Immigrants. He has to survive on 61 SEK a day, provided by Swedish immigration. This has been the case for almost five years now. Epilogue: Dawa got to apply for asylum a second time, because his deportation has not yet been executed. This time he gets to stay. The last images are from his visit to the SFI-school, Swedish for immigrants. Now he can finally start his life here.