LONDON: Friends of British in Tibet, a group of 23 British people with direct family ties to Tibet going back over 200 years, has sent a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday (13 February).
The signatories of the letter include Mr Richard John Gould, 90, eldest son of the Late Sir Basil Gould, British Political Officer in Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet from 1935 – 1945; Mr Giles Ford, son of Robert Ford, Radio Operator in Tibet until 1950; Rev Richard Thornburgh, nephew of Major D Thornburgh, political office at Gyantse and one of the British Representatives at the enthronement of the 14th Dalai Lama in Lhasa, in 1940; and well-known British actress Joanna Lumley.
They have urged the prime minister to address the current situation in Tibet and suggested the following affirmative actions:
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Offer assistance to the new Chinese leadership to overcome the deadlock in their talks with the Tibetan government in exile
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Review and strengthen UK policies to ensure that Her Majesty’s Government’s position on Tibet both effectively reflects our nation’s standards on human rights, and grants a commensurate value to the national historical culture of the Tibetan people;
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Work to ease the security clampdown on Tibetans, and petition the United Nations general assembly, perhaps requesting an investigative human rights team be sent to Tibet.
