From jackets to woollen sweaters, blankets and caps each and every winter garment is found in these markets. Variety of designs and garments of different materials are sold by the refugees in the stalls put up at two designated places Saheed Nagar in Bhubaneswar and Khan Nagar in Cuttack.
"We are getting good response here because our collection is different from others. We first conduct a survey and then order the items to sell here," informed Karma Khedup, President, Tibetan Winter Market.
They give designs to the garment manufacturers in Punjab and Delhi and purchase it from the wholesale markets there to sell it here. The Tibetans own the stalls while they bring in local people of Gajapati to help them as salesmen at the stalls.
"We are getting good support from them. Although they are from another country but we live like one family in Gajapati," said salesman Sunil Pani.
"The atmosphere in Cuttack is really good and so are the people. We keep busy with farming for eight to nine months in a year to earn livelihood and then come here for business during winter," said Tibetan refugee Sonam.
The Tibetans have been selling woollen clothes since last 35 years and these markets have now become an important shopping destination for the residents in these two cities. They started selling their products at various places of Cuttack and for last one decade they made Ranihat their place of business. This year the Cuttack Municipal Corporation has provided the land at Khan Nagar for the market. People in good numbers throng these markets and look for their woolen outfits.
"I have come here to buy a jacket. I visit the winter market regularly because of the reasonable prices of the items sold here," said Umesh Sarangi, a visitor.
The Tibetan families living at Chandragiri earn their livelihood by growing Maize during most part of the year while in winter they come here as businessmen. They have made Odisha their home, many of them speak Hindi while some can even talk in Odia with Indian citizens. Despite living here since decades, they are still connected to their roots and rituals.
When asked about the memories of Tibet, Karma Khedup said, "Homeland is always close to our hearts but we are getting good support from the central and state governments and are living happily here.”
30 Tibetan families have set up 35 stalls in Bhubaneswar and 56 in Cuttack. The Tibetan refugees also visit other cities like Berhampur and Sambalpur to sell their woolen items during the winter season. With the special tag of 'Free Tibet' on the garments they sell, the refugees are spreading the message of Indo-Tibet Friendship not just in our state or country but also to the entire world.
https://youtu.be/TnaR4v5PLDw
The officials -- UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock and Director-General William Lacy Swing of the International Organisation for Migration -- on Monday said a pledging conference would be held in Geneva on October 23, Xinhua reported.
Over 500,000 people have fled "discrimination, violence and persecution as well as isolation and fear" in Myanmar's Rakhine State into neighbouring Bangladesh since a deadly rebel militia attack on Myanmar Police posts on August 25, the officials said in a statement read out by chief UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric at the UN Headquarters.
A related UN announcement said the flow "is the largest refugee movement in the region in decades and brings the total number of Rohingya living in Cox's Bazar (in Bangladesh) to more than 800,000 people" with the numbers still growing.
"The government of Bangladesh, local charities and volunteers, the UN and NGOs (non-governmental organisations) are working in overdrive to provide assistance. But much more is urgently needed."
"The efforts must be scaled up and expanded to receive and protect refugees and ensure they are provided with basic shelter and acceptable living conditions," the statement said.
"Every day more vulnerable people arrive with very little, if anything, and settle either in overcrowded existing camps or extremely congested makeshift sites."
The refugees need food, water, health and other essential needs but basic services are under severe strain, it said.
"In some sites, there is no access to potable water, and sanitation facilities are absent, raising health risks for both the refugees and the communities hosting them."
The three principal officials, whose organisations are dealing with the crisis, lauded Bangladesh for keeping its borders open, offering safety and shelter to fleeing families.
"We have been moved by the welcome and generosity shown by the local communities towards the refugees."
The conference is being hosted by the three UN organisations as well as the European Union and Kuwait, the statement said.
"It provides governments from around the world an opportunity to show their solidarity and share the burden and responsibility."
A Joint Response Plan, already under way, requires 434 million USD to meet the life-saving needs of all Rohingya refugees and their host communities -- together an estimated 1.2 million people -- for the difficult months to come, the statement said.
"We call on the international community to intensify efforts to bring a peaceful solution to the plight of the Rohingya, to end the desperate exodus, to support host communities and ensure the conditions that will allow for refugees' eventual voluntary return in safety and dignity," the three principals said.
Nadi finished last in the the women's 1,500m heat 3 in London but her time of 4:33.54 was no doubt a big progress compared to her 4:47.38 in the Rio Olympic Games where she was a part of the first ever Refugee Olympic Team, reports Xinhua news agency.
"I have great improvement compared to the one I had in Rio. I was so happy and I have hoped only to do better in the future," said the 24-year-old, originally from South Sudan.
As one of millions of refugees, Nadi once saw her life sink into hopelessness after she was forced to be seperated with her parents at eight amid ravaging war and stay in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. She took up running there and never thought the sport could turn out to be the savior.
When professional coaches came to Kakuma to hold selection trials for a special training camp, Nadi won the opportunity to compete for the Refugee Olympic Team, selected by the International Olympic Committee, in the women's 1500m at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
In Rio, Nadi placed 40th out of 41 runners in Round 1 of the event and stood no chance of advancing but the Olympics was a life changing experience for her.
"I never thought that I would be able to go and compete somewhere like Rio," she said in a UN Refugee Agency interview after the Games. "It has really made my heart to be open because before I participated in sports, I couldn't know that I can be somebody who can do something which can be recognized by the world."
Running opened Nadi's eyes. In London, she still competed with the refugee team consisting of five athletes, but with hope and confidence.
"I hope I will never give up. I just wish to continue training more and I believe I will be like them (the rest of the athletes)," she said after her race on Friday when the world championships kicked off.
Nadi was aware that her being in the competition sent positive messages to people in misery.
"When I was competing I wasn't competing on my own. I believe when I am competing someone like me is watching. I give them a lot of hope," she said.
In addition, the ministry reported that last year there had been 217 attacks against non-profit groups that support refugees and on volunteers from those NGOs, Efe news reported.
According to the report, which was drafted in response to a request by the parliamentary group of the opposition party Die Linke, 2,545 of the 3,533 instances of anti-refugee hate crimes took place outside official reception centres.
The government-run centres were the site of 988 attacks, a slightly lower number than the 1,031 attacks registered in 2015.
"Must there be deaths before right-wing violence is considered a central security problem and put on the interior policy agenda," asked Ulla Jelpke, Die Linke's parliamentary spokesperson in an interview.
Jelpke accused the government of fear-mongering by giving the impression that refugees pose a security threat after passing stricter asylum and immigration laws.
According to the data provided by the ministry, Germany took in 280,000 asylum-seekers in 2016, a 68-per cent decrease compared to 2015, when 890,000 people arrived in the country seeking refuge.
The main causes of this dramatic drop in asylum requests are the closure of the so-called Balkan route and the signing of a refugee repatriation deal between the European Union and Turkey.
This January, almost 14,500 asylum-seekers entered Germany.