Forced eviction of Tibetans from traditional homes results in urban poverty, says expert[Wednesday, 16 March 2011, 3:22 p.m.]

(From right) Mr Jigme Norbu, an environmental researcher of the Central Tibetan Administration, Prof. Andrew M Fisher, a specialist on issues of population, poverty and social policy, and development economic and Mr Miloon Kothari, the former UN Special Rapporteur

GENEVA:
“As people (Tibetan nomads) are moved to urban areas, there is very
little primary source of employment resulting in urban poverty,” said
Prof. Andrew Fisher, a senior lecturer at the Institute of Social
Studies in the Hague. He is a specialist on issues of population,
poverty and social policy, and development economic. Prof.
Fisher expressed concern for the uprooted nomadic communities from
their tradition homes and moved to urban areas during a briefing on the
Human Rights Situation in China: Impact of policies on Tibetan Nomads
organised by two NGOs at the 16th Session of the UN Human Rights
Council in Geneva yesterday.“There is also Han Chinese migrants
moving to urban areas (in Tibet) where the economic is dominated by the
Chinese,” he said. “There is a competition between the two groups for
urban employment. The Tibetans have to compete with Chinese migrants.” Mr
Jamyang Tsetrin Gyaljong, a former political prison from Amdo province
in Eastern Tibet said, “The Chinese are forcing a change on traditional
way of life of Tibetan nomads without any proper planning for both the
older and younger generation.” The former UN Special Rapporteur
on the right to adequate housing Mr Miloon Kothari said that the forced
eviction leads to marginalization especially of children and women. He
questioned as to why one particular community suffers more. On
8 March, the UN Human Rights Council discussed Olivier de Schutter, the
Special Rapporteur on the right to food’s preliminary report issued
after visiting China from 15 to 23 December 2010. The Special
Rapporteur report said, “Nomadic herders in the western provinces and
autonomous regions, especially in Tibet (Xizang) and Inner Mongolian
Autonomous Regions, also face increasing pressure on their access to
land.”The report said that herders should not, as a result of
the measures adopted under the tuimu huancao (restore grassland)
policy, be put in a situation where they have no other options than to
sell their herd and resettle.

Prof. Andrew M Fisher, a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Social Studies, the Hague – a specialist on issues of population, poverty and social policy, and development economic.

During
the debate, the European Union expressed its support for the Special
Rapporteur’s recommendations to the Chinese authorities to engage in
meaningful consultations with herding communities, including in order
to assess the results of past and current policies, to examine all
available options in order to combine the knowledge of the nomadic
herders of their territories.Mr Tenzin Samphel Kayta speaking
on behalf of the Society Threatened Peoples last week drew the
attention of the Council about a China’s Xinhua News agency report
dated 17 January 2011 quoting Mr. Padma Choling, Chinese-appointed
governor of Tibet saying that a total of about 300,000 families
involving 1.43 million Tibetan nomads and farmers had been moved into
new or fixed settlement homes. He further said that some 185,500
families were expected to move into new homes by 2013.The
Hungarian Ambassador Andras Dekany speaking on behalf of EU said on 14
March, “The rights of persons belonging to ethnic and religious
minorities, notably in Tibet and Xinjiang, need to be fully respected
in accordance with the Chinese constitution and international
standards.” Germany called on “China to guarantee freedom of
opinion and express in its minority regions, in particular in Tibet and
Xingiang, together with the protection of all human rights it has
committed to as an international obligation.” Mr. Jigme Norbu,
an Environmental Researcher from the Central Tibetan Administration,
Dharamsala, India expressed Tibetans concern about Tibet’s fragile
environment during the briefing. “Glaciers on the Tibetan
Plateau are melting at a rate of 7 per cent annually,” he said. “If the
current rate continues 2/3 of the glaciers on the plateau will be gone
by 2050. By 2100 all the glaciers will be gone.” To highlight
the concern, he showed pictures the Rongbuk glacier near Mount Everest
receding dramatically over the years. Many international environment
experts refer Tibet as the Third Pole because of the vast glacier. The
Tibetan Plateau has more than 46,000 glaciers and all major 9 Asian
rivers originates from Tibet.