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Tibetan children forced to assimilate, independent rights experts fear — Global Issues



“We are very concerned that in recent years, the Tibetan boarding school system for children seems to function as a a mandatory large-scale program aims to assimilate Tibetans into the majority Han culture, contrary to international human rights standards,” they said in a statement. statement.

Identity erosion

According to independent experts: Fernand de Varennes, boarding schools provide educational content and environments around Han culture. Special Rapporteur on Minority Affairs; Farida Shaheed, Special Rapporteur on the right to educationand Alexandra Xanthaki, Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights.

They say children from the Tibetan minority are forced to complete a “compulsory education” in Mandarin, or Putonghua, without access to traditional or culturally appropriate learning.

Nor do public schools offer substantive study of Tibetan language, history, and culture.

“As a result, Tibetan children are losing the ability to acquire their mother tongue and the ability to communicate easily with their parents and grandparents in Tibetan, contributing to their assimilation and the erosion of their identity,” they added.

The number of schools is increasing

Experts are also concerned about the significant increase reported in the number of residential schools operating in and out of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and the number of Tibetan children living in them.

While boarding schools exist in other parts of China, their proportions in areas with Tibetan minority populations are much higher and the proportion has increased in recent years.

Nationally, the boarding rate is more than 20%, but experts say the information they have received indicates that the majority of Tibetan children are in these facilities, close to a million.

away from home

The increase was achieved through closing rural schools in areas that tend to be heavily populated by Tibetans, replacing them with town or district schools, where teaching and communication is almost exclusively in Mandarin (standard Mandarin) and learning Students often have to attend boarding school.

The experts continued: “Many boarding schools are located far from the homes of boarding families.

“We are very worried about what seems a policy of forcible assimilation of Tibetan identity they added.

Repression and persecution

These policies go against the prohibition of discrimination and the rights of the Tibetan people to education, language and cultural rights, and freedom of religion or belief, and they represent a reversal of measures. inclusive or more permissive methods.

Experts recall that in August 2021, the Central Conference on China’s Ethnic Affairs called for all ethnic groups to be instructed to always put the interests of the nation first.

“This appeal reaffirms the idea of ​​building a strong and modern socialist State based on a single national identity of China,” they said.

“In this context, initiatives to promote Tibetan language and culture are said to be persecuted, and individuals who support Tibetan language and education are persecuted.”

Experts Written to the Chinese Government in November and keep in touch with the competent authorities on the matter.

Role of the UN Rapporteur

Special Rapporteur appointed by the United Nations Dong Nhan Quyen Association in Geneva to monitor and report on topics or country-specific situations.

They operate in their personal capacity and are independent of any government or organization.

They are not employees of the United Nations and do not receive remuneration for their work.

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