Reportage – 2005

Tibetans reach out to the Arab world

DHARAMSHALA, India, 9 December 2005

In a bid to further strengthen its campaign and bring awareness to the struggle of Tibetan people, the Tibetan government-in-exile launched the Arabic version of its official website on the eve of international human rights day and 16th anniversary of the conferment of the Nobel Peace Prize to the Dalai Lama.

"We hope that the Arabic version of Tibet.net will serve as a window to the issue of Tibet for interested people in the Arabic-speaking world," a press release on the site said.

The Arabic version of tibet.net provides information on Tibet and Tibetan community in exile and the Arabic translation of news, statements and press releases of the exiled government.

Apart from English, the exiled government also runs websites in Tibetan, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese and Russian.

For the Tibetans in Diaspora, internet is providing them a virtual Tibet. A Tibetan writer Tsering Namgyal says that, "Tibetans are embracing the internet in a big way and it has become a tremendous tool for activism for the stateless Tibetans."