(Tibet) nomads being forced to slaughter their animals and forced off their land

[Guest guest]

The below is unfortunately not a new story of the demise of a culture and it is

never easy for these nomads to give up their animals or their way of life.

 

Report: China resettles Tibetan nomads

Sun Jun 10, 3:08 PM ET

 

China is forcing nomadic Tibetan herders to settle in towns to clear land for

development, leaving many unable to earn a living, a human rights group said in

a report issued Sunday.

 

Herders have been forced to slaughter herds of yaks, sheep and goats and

Communist officials have paid minimal compensation and failed to protect

Tibetans' legal rights, Human Rights Watch said. It said tens of thousands, and

possibly hundreds of thousands, of people have been affected.

 

Chinese authorities explained the changes as a response to overgrazing by

Tibetan herds that was causing soil erosion, Human Rights Watch said.

 

The group appealed to the government to suspend the resettlements until a review

can be put in place and to allow Tibetans to return to their land if they were

forcibly moved or received no compensation.

 

" Many Tibetan herders have been required to slaughter most of their livestock

and move into newly built housing colonies in or near towns, abandoning their

traditional way of life, " the report said.

 

Human Rights Watch said the resettlements in Tibet and in adjacent ethnic

Tibetan areas of Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai provinces are linked to the effort,

launched in 1999, to develop China's poor, restive west and bind it to the

bustling east.

 

China's foreign ministry and the local governments of Tibet and the provinces

cited did not respond to requests by phone and fax for comment.

 

The resettlements began in 2000 and have taken place more intensively since

2003, Human Rights Watch said.

 

" Many Tibetan agricultural communities have had their land confiscated, with

minimal compensation, or have been evicted to make way for mining,

infrastructure projects or urban development, " the report said.

 

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