Tibetans in Lhasa, along with neighbouring regions in the Chinese segregated Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), have been facing sudden Covid-19 lockdown protocols since early August with no preparation or warning in advance from the authorities. People have taken to Chinese social media platforms to express their frustration over the inadequate quarantine facilities, poor food and mismanagement and mistreatment of the sick. Official figures from the Chinese government have reported over 16,900 cases in TAR to date.
The Chinese authorities imposed a Zero-Covid Policy in TAR, and while implementing this policy, measures and strategies in the affected regions included strict and targeted lockdowns and mass testing.
Tibetans were forcibly removed from their homes and placed in isolation centres, even those who tested negative for Covid-19. There are reports of people suffering from violent beating, separation from family members, shortages of food and lack of medical care in the isolation centres. The people affected have shared online their experiences of chaotic mass testing, their frustrations at being unable to meet their loved ones and the restrictions on their right to movement.
Those who died were denied the proper prayer and burial rituals and their right to cremation.
“The lockdown order came without enough time to prepare, leaving people in some cases short of food. Finding treatments for Covid-19 positive patients has also proven difficult” said a source speaking to Radio Free Asia. Another Tibetan said “they took us to an isolation centre, but there are 800 people in the centre, although the office should separate the patients and take care of them, but the officials left us there without doing anything for three days, they didn’t come to check if everything was okay or give us food, we have to go and get food by ourselves,” said a Tibetan netizen as reported by the Tibet Post.
Many Tibetans complained of the spoiled and unhygienic food provided in the isolation centers, of no care or treatment given to patients, the lack of basic facilities including toilets, and the unfair treatment of Tibetans as compared to other people there.
Three people, Penpa Tsering, 62, from Lhasa Toelung Dechen; Ajho Penpa from Shigatse and a third unidentified Tibetan from Gyantse died at home on September 16 after failing to receive timely medical care and treatment from the authorities, reports RFA.
Quarantine centre in Lhasa
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD), a Dharamshala based rights group, shared one Tibetan man’s experience posted on TikTok, a video and photo sharing app: “I have stayed in a quarantine shelter for 34 days and undergone 24 tests. Finally, this morning, I tested positive. When I shared honestly about my experience online, some people cautioned me. Out of concern, they told me: ‘when the pandemic ends, you will be taught a lesson for breaking the law’. But I haven’t broken any laws. Perhaps they will not feed me well in the shelter. And that’s fine. Now that I am infected, I can’t return to my hometown. So, on behalf of the people, I appeal to the higher authorities to properly manage this pandemic as soon as possible. It is better to die than live like this. Execute us, whatever, being dead is better.”
TCHRD has called on the Chinese authorities to ensure that the right to freedom of expression is respected and guaranteed at all times, and they are calling on all public authorities and institutions to protect those who report or expose the harms, abuses and serious wrongdoing that have arisen during this period of crisis.
On September 17, following public complaints and criticism, Zhandui, one of the city’s vice-mayors in Lhasa, accepted the authority’s failure in handling of month-long lockdown in the region and apologised. “We sincerely accept criticism for these problems, which have had a great impact on the productivity and life of some of the people. On behalf of the municipal government, I would like to express our deep apologies to the people of all ethnic groups and those stranded in Lhasa due to the epidemic “said Zhandui as reported by the South China Morning Post.
Other authorities in the Tibetan capital city of Lhasa have also apologised for the mishandling of the city during lockdown. Over 100 officials in Tibet have been punished or suspended for their inadequate implementation of pandemic prevention and control work.
Tenzin Lekshay, spokesperson for the Central Tibetan Administration, also known as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, expressed solidarity with Tibetans inside Tibet and with their suffering during this crisis as well as sadness over the Chinese authorities’ failure to manage the lockdown imposed in Tibet.
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