Tibet refugees in India reject new China law

New Delhi: Days after People’s Congress of Tibet passed a new law to make “ethnic unity” mandatory in China, Tibetans living in India said this will lead to more repression and arrests of local Tibetans.

The new law is seen by critics as a tool for ethnic cleansing and justify crackdowns on Tibetans just as a similar law was used to crackdown on Uyghers in Xinjiang province of China. According to Xinhua news agency, the new ethnic unity law “underlines that Tibet has been an inalienable part of China since ancient times and it is the common responsibility for the people of all ethnic groups to safeguard national reunification, strengthen ethnic unity and take a clear-cut stand against separatism”. The new law will come into effect from May 1.

Rejecting the law, Tsewang Gyalpo Arya, the official spokesperson of Dharamsala-based Central Tibet Administration (CTA), told this newspaper that the Chinese government wants to gain international legitimacy by making Tibetans a minority in Tibet through systematic state-sponsored migration of a large number of Han Chinese. Mr Arya added that this law forebodes a very difficult and harsh time ahead for Tibetans in China.

China has faced criticism for using similar law in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to crackdown on Uighur and other Muslims by detaining them and throwing them in re-education camps. Tibetans living in India feel that same may happen in Tibet now.