-By International Campaign for Tibet

Canadian parliamentarians in an international human rights subcommittee are calling for sanctions against Chinese government officials responsible for a coercive boarding school system that has separated the vast majority of Tibetan schoolchildren from their families, language and culture.

The Canadian government should “utilize the Special Economic Measures Act to sanction government officials who are responsible for the implementation of the residential boarding school and preschool system in Tibet,” the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development says in a new report.

The report adds that Canada should “openly support all initiatives to keep the issue of Tibet residential schools and other violations of minority rights at the forefront of discussions at the United Nations Human Rights Council and other international fora,” as well as release a statement echoing the concerns UN experts raised about the residential schools in a November 2022 letter to the Chinese government.

According to the report, the schools have allegedly cut nearly 1 million Tibetan children off from their families and forced them to learn in Mandarin Chinese.

As a result, Tibetan children are losing the ability to communicate with their parents and grandparents and learn about their traditions, history and Tibetan identity.

The psychological toll this is taking on the students and their families is enormous.

“The harm that the schools are causing to Tibetan children, families and communities must be condemned by every possible means,” the report says.

China has illegally occupied Tibet for over 60 years, turning it into the least-free country on Earth today alongside South Sudan and Syria. Click here to read more.