Dharamshala: According to reports received from reliable sources in the Ngaba region in Tibet, China’s assimilationist education policies in Tibet and its strengthening of compulsory colonial-style boarding schools across Tibet are resulting in cultural erasure and loss of Tibetan identity. Targeted mainly at young Tibetan monks and nuns, these coercive practices pose a severe threat to the preservation of traditional Tibetan culture, religion, and way of life.
Over 1,700 young monks from Kirti Monastery and two monasteries in Dzoge County—all these three monasteries located in Ngaba in the traditional province of Amdo now incorporated into Sichuan Province—have been forcibly ordered to leave monastic life and enrolled in government-run colonial boarding schools. These expulsions and forcible enrollment of monks under the age of 18 are being conducted against the wishes and consent of both the affected children and their parents.
At these schools, the young clergy undergo intensive political indoctrination, including mandatory praise of the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). These children are primarily taught in Mandarin Chinese and are further prohibited from visiting their own monasteries during school holidays. These measures lead to a loss of Tibetan language skills and the gradual severance of their ties to Tibetan cultural identity, spiritual traditions and religious practices.
In order to ensure strict enforcement of these policies, the local authorities are threatening to revoke public benefits and even imprison parents who resist sending their children to these government-run boarding schools. Restrictions have also been placed on Tibetans building new houses on their land and on nomads from increasing their livestock numbers.
It is evident that considering the deteriorating human rights conditions in Tibet under the draconian rule of the PRC government, Tibetan cultural and religious freedoms are being suppressed and annihilated at an alarmingly rapid rate. These concerning developments in recent times have coincided with a visit in July this year by Wang Huning, a high-ranking member of the Chinese Communist Party Politburo Standing Committee, to the Tibetan areas of Karze, Ngaba and Kyungchu counties.
In light of the critical situation, we urge for an immediate intervention to this critical situation from the international community including governments, the United Nations, human rights organizations, educational institutions that are committed to protecting cultural diversity and religious freedom as well as to promoting human rights and fundamental freedom for all. We reiterate the need for the PRC to uphold their international legal obligations of safeguarding the rights and freedom of the Tibetan people to express, preserve and promote their Tibetan identity. We strongly call upon the PRC government to stop the assimilationist policies being practised in the Tibetan areas through the operation of colonial boarding schools.
Central Tibetan Administration
September 2024
