Shaping Tibet’s Future in Switzerland
Dharamsala, 18 December 2003: The Tibetan Youth Association of Europe and the Committee of 100 for Tibet will hold a conference on self-determination and individual activism titled “Shaping the Future of Tibet”.
The three-day conference will take place in Einsiedeln, Switzerland, from January 23rd to
January 25th, 2004.
“Ever since the Chinese invasion of our homeland, more than half a century ago, the people of Tibet have suffered immeasurably, and they continue to do so with no end in sight. We feel a sense of great urgency, not only to provide relief to our people as early as possible”, the organisers said.
This conference is extremely significant as it aims to address the underlying need for a settlement of the status of Tibet, one that will be in accordance with universal principles and acceptable to the people of Tibet, the organisers say.
The conference aims to discuss ways to further the right to self-determination of the Tibetan people, mindful that even the United Nations resolved in 1961 that ‘China respect the fundamental human rights and freedoms of the Tibetan people, including their right to self-determination.’
Recent efforts to apply these principles have been supported by all the Tibetan organisations in Switzerland, the German speaking Tibet Support Groups, and by all the Tibetan community organisations in Canada and the United States, including key Tibet
organisations.
The organisers say that the conference, which is expected to draw a strong participation from Tibetans and Tibet supporters, will address the urgency of the situation, to find focus in their goals and strategies, and to spark renewed involvement and action by Tibetans all over the world.
According to the organisors, the unified resolve that the Tibetan people must determine their own political, economic and cultural future needs be demonstrated by the conference. It is a shared belief of the organisors that more Tibetans need to be active in the Tibetan struggle for freedom, because, without Tibetan involvement and effort, they say outside support can be quite meaningless.