July 12, 2015

The Chinese authorities have intensified control over Tibetans’ movements by denying and recalling passports, in contravention of Chinese law and connected to the Chinese authorities’ political agenda of undermining the Dalai Lama and seeking to assert their control over Tibetan people.

A new report, ‘A Policy Alienating Tibetans‘, to be published by the International Campaign for Tibet on July 13 reports that:

• Very few Tibetans in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and in many other Tibetan areas have been issued passports in the past three years, and many people had their passports confiscated. In contrast, more and more Chinese are travelling both abroad and freely in Tibetan areas.
• The denial of passports is accompanied by restrictions on movement in Tibetan areas linked to intensified militarization and security particularly in areas where there has been protest or self-immolations.