Beijing, China

Chinese authorities are exerting "extreme pressure" to force rural Tibetans into mass relocation from their villages, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW). These new findings were revealed in a 71-page report, titled ‘Educate the Masses to Change Their Minds’: China’s Coercive Relocation of Rural Tibetans. 

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The treatment of Tibetans by the Chinese government has been a subject of intense international scrutiny and controversy for decades. Now the report put a spotlight on the mass relocation.

The report pointed out that since 2016, officials have relocated or are in the process of relocating 500 villages in the Tibet Autonomous Region, displacing over 140,000 residents to distant locations.

According to the report, these programmes amount to forced evictions in breach of international law that countries are supposed to adhere to. 

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The report is based on over 1,000 official Chinese media articles from 2016 to 2023 and includes three case studies with video evidence.

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It revealed how Chinese officials pressure residents into "consenting" to relocate through intense “publicity work” and “door-to-door ideological work” during home visits. 

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One particular instance is now raising eyebrows where 200 out of 262 households in a Nagchu Municipality village initially resisted relocation but eventually agreed "voluntarily." 

However, the report said that in many of these instances, Chinese officials resorted to repeated visits and threats of service cuts.

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Acting China director at Human Rights Watch Maya Wang said, “The Chinese government says that the relocation of Tibetan villages is voluntary, but official media reports contradict this claim."

“Those reports make clear that when a whole village is targeted for relocation, it is practically impossible for the residents to refuse to move without facing serious repercussions,” Wang added. 

Poor families targeted 

HRW found that officials use pressure and threats of administrative and criminal penalties against dissenters. Additionally, officials employ “individual household relocation,” targeting poorer families for moves to areas purportedly better for income generation.

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Between 2016 and 2020, an estimated 567,000 people were relocated under this programme.

Many relocated individuals struggle to find employment, having been moved to peri-urban areas where their farming or herding skills are irrelevant.

HRW warned that these relocations are part of China's efforts to destroy Tibetan culture which threatens to devastate Tibetan communities. Forced to abandon traditional livelihoods, many Tibetans find themselves seeking work in unfamiliar industries, eroding their cultural heritage.

(With inputs from agencies)