Tibetans Required to Submit Details of their Relatives Living in Exile

By Tenzin Samten / August 4, 2021;

Tibetans in Dingri County in the Tibet Autonomous Region’s (TAR) Shigatse prefecture were ordered by the Chinese authorities to report names and other personal information relating to any family they have living outside Tibet. Tibetans were threatened with loss of state benefits such as land and housing for noncompliance, reports Radio Free Asia.

Tibetans who provided details of their families living in exile were interrogated and their mobile phones confiscated by the authorities – due to the suspicion that they would keep in contact with those outside Tibet. “Despite having given the authorities all the information they asked for, they were denied the benefits they were promised anyway,” said RFA’s source speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Chinese authorities’ campaign to trace Tibetans living in exile was reportedly started in April this year. Restrictions on communication that are in place in Tibet has delayed the news reaching the exile community until now. This programme has been launched in other parts of Tibet as well,including Nagchu prefecture in the TAR and Lithang County in Sichuan’s Kardze [Ch: Ganzi] Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

Those Tibetans who have admitted to having relatives or families in exile are required to register their own names with their local authorities, along with details of their relatives’ names, photo, occupation and how long they have been living in exile.

Tibet remains a restricted location for international reporters as China continues to deny free access. The only source of information about what is happening in Tibet has been communication between people living there, with their contacts in exile. In recent years, authorities have imposed “online surveillance” to restrict communication in an effort to block information flow. Palden Gyal, a researcher at Tibet Watch, says that this current campaign to collect details of peoples’ contacts living outside Tibet is to “stop the flow of news about protests and other politically sensitive information from within the region”.