New evidence suggesting that the Chinese Government is pursuing a Xinjiang style system of forced labor in Tibet, a region which until now has not been associated with such allegations, was released today by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC).
The research, conducted by Professor Adrian Zenz – one of the world’s leading experts on the situation facing minorities in the People’s Republic of China finds the existence of a large-scale mandatory “vocational training” program and forcible labor transfer scheme exists in Tibet, enlisting over half a million laborers over the first seven months of 2020. The program is overseen by strict military style management and includes enforced indoctrination and intrusive surveillance of participants, bearing close similarities to the system of coercive vocational training and labor transfer established in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
In response to these revelations, IPAC members released a statement promising political action in each of the 18 legislatures represented by IPAC.
The international group of lawmakers have called for targeted Magnitsky-style sanctions upon those responsible and for governments to revise risk advice to businesses currently sourcing from Tibet and other affected areas to prevent the use of forced labor in supply chains, among other actions.
At the time of writing the statement has been signed by 58 lawmakers representing 16 legislatures. The statement says:
“This report is the latest in a mounting body of evidence documenting egregious human rights abuses in Tibet, where the situation surrounding religious freedoms, systemic political persecution and forced cultural assimilation of the indigenous Tibetan people has been deteriorating for decades.
Following on from the global outcry in the wake of revelations of “vocational training” programs in the Uyghur Region, this report shows that the current leadership of the People’s Republic of China remains undeterred in its refusal to respect basic human rights standards, and unswayed by criticism from the international community, including from the United Nations, in which China claims a leading role.“
The full statement and and list of signatories is available here.
