Chris Law MP, Co-Chair of The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Tibet, who is also the Scottish National Party (SNP) Spokesperson for International Development and Climate Justice, tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) on the plight of peaceful Tibetan protesters in Dege County, Tibet on 19th March.
ACTION: Please contact your local MPs and urge them to sign the EDM 530.
Treatment of Tibetan protesters in Dege County, Tibet
EDM (Early Day Motion)530: tabled on 19 March 2024 by Chris Law MP
That this House strongly condemns the recent brutal crackdown on peaceful Tibetan protesters in Dege County, Tibet; calls for an immediate and irreversible halt to the construction of Kamtok Hydroelectric Dam, as well as the forced relocation of more than 2,000 local Tibetans from their ancestral lands; acknowledges the courage of local Tibetans who have shared evidence, including videos, depicting desperate appeals, mass arbitrary detentions and the deployment of People’s Armed Police, despite internet surveillance and the risk of detention and imprisonment for communication with Tibetans abroad, especially during protests; expresses deep concern over the police violence and ongoing restrictions on communication in Dege, as well as the looming threat of forced relocation and the destruction of six ancient monasteries with significant universal heritage value; recognises the lack of genuine and meaningful integration of Tibetans’ profound knowledge and reverence for local sacred mountains in land-use planning and political decision-making; and therefore strongly urges the Government to call on the Chinese government to immediately and unconditionally release all individuals detained in connection with these events, provide medical treatment for all those injured until full recovery, immediately and irreversibly halt construction of all hydropower dams in Tibet without the consent of the local population and consideration of Tibetans’ knowledge of social, cultural and ecological implications, and immediately end the security crackdown in Dege County.
This EDM no.530 can be accessed at https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/62026.
Tsering Passang, Founder and Chair, of the Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities, said: “Thank you Chris Law MP for tabling this timely Early Day Motion in the UK Parliament by drawing attention to the current plight of the 2000 Tibetans, who are being brutally crackdown by the Chinese authorities in their hometown of Dege for exercising their free speech. We hope the UK Parliament and Government as well as the Chinese authorities pay heed to Chris Law and his colleagues’ calls for positive actions for the affected Tibetans in Dege. China’s authorities must release the Tibetans immediately.”
Last month, on 15th February, Washington DC-based Radio Free Asia reported that at least 300 Tibetans gathered outside Dege County Town Hall to protest the building of the Gangtuo dam, which is part of a massive 13-tier hydropower complex on the Drichu River with a total planned capacity 13,920 megawatts. The dam project is on the Drichu River, called Jinsha in Chinese, which is located on the upper reaches of the Yangtze, one of China’s most important waterways.
Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities (GATPM) 