Three UN experts issued a joint statement on June 6, pointing out that about one million Tibetan children have been separated from their families and educated in Han Chinese culture in state-run boarding schools, making them gradually lose their ability to communicate in their mother tongue, and this forced assimilation through the education system that violates educational, linguistic and cultural rights, as well as religious freedom, violates international human rights norms.

The statement was jointly issued by three UN Human Rights Council special rapporteurs, Fernand de Varennes, Farida shaheed and Alexandra Xanthaki, each focusing on issues such as ethnic minorities, the right to education and cultural rights. They are concerned about the residential school system imposed on Tibetan children in recent years, and appear to be a large-scale enforced plan to integrate Tibetans into mainstream Han culture, in contravention of international human rights norms.

Forced to complete compulsory education in Mandarin

Three experts said that the environment and content of these boarding schools is centred on Han culture, children are forced to complete compulsory education courses in Mandarin, have no access to knowledge related to their own traditions or culture, and do not provide language, history, and culture related reading materials, resulting in the loss of Tibetan children’s mother tongue skills and making it difficult for them to use Tibetan to talk to their parents and grandparents, showing that this measure not only promotes assimilation, but also erodes Tibetan identity.

Experts are concerned about the significant increase in the number of boarding schools in and outside the TAR and the number of Tibetan students attending the school: although boarding schools are also available in other parts of China, the proportion in the TAR is much higher and has been gradually increasing in recent years; According to information obtained by experts, the vast majority of Tibetan children, numbering nearly one million, are sent to boarding schools.

Tibetan-dominated rural schools were also forced to close

At the same time, local Tibetan-dominated rural schools were forced to close and replace them with township or urban schools. These schools only use Mandarin for teaching and communication, and often require students to board. Experts say many boarding schools are far from students’ homes.

In August 2011, China’s State Ethnic Affairs Commission demanded that all ethnic groups put national interests first. Experts say the call reaffirms the idea of a modern, strong socialist state based on a single national identity, where initiatives for Tibetan language and culture are suppressed and individuals who advocate Tibetan language and education are persecuted. The expert wrote to the Government of China in November of the same year.

A Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council without pay to monitor and report on issues related to the topic or on specific country situations. Their statements do not speak for the United Nations

—-SOURCE: Liberty Times Net