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24 October 2011

“Federal government ‘appaled’ at self-immolations in Tibet

The federal government is ‘appaled’ at the rising number of self-immolations in the Tibetan regions of Southwest-China. The foreign office urged China on Friday to ‘shape their policies in a way that existing tensions are relieved’ It asked the Dalai Lama – the religious head of the Tibetans – to discourage young monks and nuns from further self-immolations.

Out of protest the against the Chinese rule in Tibet, at least nine persons have self-immolated in the Tibetan region of Sichuan province since March. For the first time this week, a young nun was among the Tibetans who self-immolated. The center of tensions is the monastery of Kirti on the edges of Aba town (Tib.: Ngaba).

The speaker of the foreign ministry, Andreas Peschke, said, the federal government had repeatedly urged China to allow for transparency an access to the monastery. The federal government was ‘in permanent contact on different levels’. At the same time, he asked the Dalai Lama to excert his influence so that “these young monks do not continue to go this terrible path.”

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