Statement on Reports of Forced Labour in Tibet

Today, The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) co-published a report by its ethnic minority adviser, scholar Adrian Zenz. The report describes an apparent widespread system of forced labor in Tibet (Tibetan Autonomous Region) perpetrated by the People’s Republic of China.

Zenz’s report raises concerns about a large-scale mandatory “vocational training” program, enlisting over 500,000 laborers in the region, together with accounts of enforced indoctrination, intrusive surveillance, military-style enforcement, and harsh punishments for those who fail to meet labour transfer quotas. The program appears disturbingly reminiscent of coercive vocational training and mass labour transfers imposed by the Chinese authorities in the Uyghur region.

We stand united in unequivocal condemnation of these practices and call upon the Chinese government to halt these atrocities immediately.

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.

We call upon our governments to take immediate action to condemn these atrocities and to prevent further human rights abuses:

  • Governments should impose targeted Magnitsky-style sanctions upon those responsible.
  • Governments should urgently revise their risk advice to businesses currently sourcing from areas affected by Tibetan and other Chinese forced labor schemes to keep goods and services purchased in our respective jurisdictions from being tainted by Tibetan forced labor.
  • Governments must call for reciprocal access to Tibet in order to conduct an independent international investigation into the situation of the Tibetan people.
  • The Secretary General of the United Nations should install a Special Rapporteur to investigate forced labor and ethnic persecution in the People’s Republic of China.

Signatories to the statement

George Christensen MP (Australia)
Andrew Hastie MP (Australia)
Sen. Kimberley Kitching (Australia)
James Bezan MP (Canada)
Hon. Irwin Cotler (Canada)
Garnett Genuis MP (Canada)
Sen. Thanh Hai Ngo (Canada)
Pavel Fischer MP (Czechia)
Jan Lipavský MP (Czechia)
Uffe Elbæk MP (Denmark)
Isabelle Florennes MP (France)
Sen. André Gattolin (France)
Margarete Bause MdB (Germany)
Michael Brand MdB (Germany)
Enrico Borghi MP (Italy)
Andrea Delmastro Delle Vedove MP (Italy)
Paolo Formentini MP (Italy)
Roberto Giachetti MP (Italy)
Sen. Lucio Malan (Italy)
Sen. Roberto Rampi (Italy)
François-Xavier Bellamy MEP (EU)
Engin Eroglu MEP (EU)
Sandro Gozi MEP (EU)
Karin Karlsbro MEP (EU)
David Lega MEP (EU)
Miriam Lexmann MEP (EU)
Rep. Gen Nakatani (Japan)
Sen. Hiroshi Yamada (Japan)
Rep. Shiori Yamao (Japan)
Mantas Adomėnas MP (Lithuania)
Dovilė Šakalienė MP (Lithuania)
Martijn van Helvert MP (Netherlands)
Henk Krol MP (Netherlands)
Louisa Wall MP (New Zealand)
Joar Forssell, MP (Sweden)
Hampus Hagman, MP (Sweden)
David Josefsson, MP (Sweden)
Elisabet Lann (Sweden)
Fredrik Malm MP (Sweden)
Maria Nilsson, MP (Sweden)
Fabian Molina MP (Switzerland)
Nicolas Walder MP (Switzerland)
Lord David Alton MP (UK)
Steve Baker MP (UK)
Chris Bryant MP (UK)
Alistair Carmichael MP (UK)
Rosie Cooper MP (UK)
Judith Cummins MP (UK)
David Davis MP (UK)
Iain Duncan Smith MP (UK)
Damian Green MP (UK)
Baroness Helena Kennedy (UK)
Imran Ahmad Khan MP (UK)
Tim Loughton MP (UK)
Anthony Mangnall MP (UK)
Baroness Catherine Meyer (UK)
Craig Mackinlay MP (UK)
Andrew Selous MP (UK)
Alyn Smith MP (UK)
Henry Smith MP (UK)
Sen. Bob Menendez (USA)
Sen. Marco Rubio (USA)
Rep. Ted Yoho (USA)