DHARAMSHALA: Chinese authorities detained at least a dozen Tibetans on 22 September, including one who was severely beaten, for reoccupying lands forcibly taken from them five years ago, according to Radio Free Asia.

The Tibetans detained were residents of Thangkor town in Dzoege county in Ngaba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (incorporated into China’s Sichuan Province). The lands were taken from the Tibetans by the Chinese government to make way for a government sponsored development project.

However, even after five years, no developer has begun construction on the lands. Local authorities were also reported to be leasing out the lands to private individuals, which prompted the Tibetan residents to file an appeal to the local authorities to return their lands.

But the Chinese authorities, annoyed at the Tibetans’ appeal, responded by withdrawing subsidies provided by the Chinese government for local families, instead of allowing the Tibetans to return to their lands.

“When residents complained, the local government pledged to resolve the dispute by 20 September, but when the deadline passed, “the local Tibetans reoccupied the land,” a source said.

The Chinese authorities then dispatched a contingent of police from Dzoege county and other parts of Ngaba prefecture to crack down on the Tibetans and detained at least 12 Tibetans.

According to the source, the 12 tibetans detained included six who had assisted in writing the appeal namely Dobe, Shetruk, Tsering Kyab, Patra, Tsering Tashi and Tsokyi.

Tsokyi was “severely beaten and then released after wards,” the source said, while the rest “are still detained in nearby Marthang county.”