Tibetans flay China for denying passports to people living in Tibet Autonomous Region

Tibetans living in exile in India called upon the international community to put pressure on China to protect their human rights.

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They were referring to a Chinese government order, issued in 2012 and accessed by them recently, which said no fresh passports would be issued to people living in Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) under the control of Beijing.

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Officials of the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) based in Dharamsala said the Chinese order impinged on their human rights.

"We have received an official Chinese document that explicitly assures that the Chinese government has not being issuing any new passports to the Tibetans. Also the old passports, which were valid and have not expired, were also withdrawn by the Chinese government. And this is applied only to the Tibetans and not to the Chinese citizens," said TCHRD Director, Tsering Tsomo.

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Tsomo said the order, preventing Tibetans in the TAR from travelling outside the People's Republic of China (PRC), was discriminatory.

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She said the order is against Article 12(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which is binding on China, and recognises Tibetan people's right to freedom of movement, including the right to leave their country.

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"The international community should rise up to the occasion and stand by the Tibetan people and uphold values and principles that are at the heart of the international human rights system and pressure the Chinese government to give the rights, fundamental rights and freedom that Tibetans are entitled to," said Tsomo.

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As per reports, Chinese authorities had before the regulation instructed Tibetans to turn in their old passports, which would apparently be replaced by electronic ones. But the new passports never materialised.