UN advocacy Officer of the Tibet Bureau Kalden Tsomo
Geneva: The Chinese government’s systematic violations of fundamental rights of Tibetan children in Tibet to receive education in the Tibetan language was raised at the ongoing 50th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
During a presentation of a report by UN Special Rapporteur on Education Koumbou Boly Barry on 24 June, the UN advocacy Officer of the Tibet Bureau Kalden Tsomo delivered an oral statement on China’s ever growing attack on Tibetan culture and language through denial of education in Tibetan language and cultural settings.
Delivering the statement on behalf of Society for Threatened Peoples, Kalden Tsomo said Tibetan Children and young people have become primary targets under Xi Jinping’s campaign to build a Han Chinese-centric education system. While citing the recent report on the Chinese government policy of mandatory colonial system of boarding schools, Kalden Tsomo urged the Human Rights Council and the Special Rapporteur to call upon China to immediately stop taking Tibetan Children away from their families and their own cultural setting.
She expressed concern over the repressive Chinese policies and actions, including arrests and detention, often subjected to incommunicado situations, against a large number of Tibetan writers, intellectuals, singers and students who engaged in preservation of Tibetan culture and identity, including through education.
She asked about steps the human rights council would take to hold the Chinese government accountable for its atrocities, and further asked the Special Rapporteur to indicate roles that the rapporteur would take to communicate with the Chinese government to ensure equal respect and rights for Tibetan Children in receiving education in the Tibetan language.
-Report filed by the Tibet Bureau in Geneva
