Tibetan Issues Raised at UN Forum

By Tenzin Samten / December 28, 2021;

UN Advocacy Officer Kalden Tsomo of Tibet Bureau Geneva during the UN Forum
Photo: screen grab

The issue of Tibet was raised at the fourteenth session of the United Nations Forum on the Minority Issues which took place in Geneva from December 2 to 3.

Kalden Tsomo, the UN Advocacy Officer from the Tibet Bureau Geneva, represented the Tibet Bureau at the Forum,calling on China to addresses the underlying grievances of Tibetans by respecting Tibetan people’s historical, social and cultural roots, reports Tibet.net the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration.

The UN Forum identifies and analyses best practices, challenges, opportunities and initiatives in addressing conflict prevention and the protection of the human rights of minorities, in line with the principles and rights enshrined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities.The Forum meets annually for two days allocated to thematic discussions; the Forum’s focus this year was Conflict Prevention and the Protection of the Human Rights of Minorities.

In her address to the Forum, Kalden Tsomo stressed that Tibetan people are facing the imposition of social structural and demographic change; lack of opportunity to acquire knowledge on Tibetan history, culture and traditions; and lack of employment opportunity in Tibet. “These have led to a cycle of conflicts and protests, including self-immolation protests by over 155 Tibetans in Tibet,” she said.

She continued, citing as examples the Chinese authorities’ recent closure of Tibetan medium schools and informal Tibetan language classes, as well as the recent demolition of the Drago Monastery school in the Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. With China’s growing emphasis on their sinicisation drive, the survival of Tibetans’ culture, language and identity is under immense threat, she added. To address these problems, she called on the Chinese government to respect Tibetan historical, social and cultural roots and urged UN members to understand the “conflict, crisis and complexities” faced by Tibetan people under China and pay attention to “social exclusionary processes and cultural genocide” in Tibet.

The UN forum on minority issues convened from December 2 to 3.