London, Novenber 30. According to Tibet Information Network, "A letter from a Tibetan in the Dri and Do districts of Sog county repeated claims of excessive poaching and hunting by Chinese migrants, but also included allegations that the Chinese traders in the area were carrying out assaults on local Tibetans, claiming that over 100 local Tibetans had been ambushed by 'gangs'. Tibetans in the area formed their own vigilante groups to try to stop the assaults, carrying out citizens' arrests on suspects and handing them over to the police. The villagers claim that the police took no action against the suspects apart from checking that their documents allowed them to be in Tibet. 'The people in our districts took the initiative to form a group to search the mountains for such Chinese. We arrested five Chinese and in accordance with the provisions of law, we handed them over to the local Chinese Security Bureau in our district. We presented evidence as well as witness in accordance with law. However after a few

days the district authorities released them and announced that they had valid certificates', said one member of the vigilante team, which went to 'arrest' 11 more Chinese migrants whom they accused of carrying out the assaults. In Yagla, a group of villages in the same district, 85 km south east of Sog Dzong, the Tibetans went further and evicted all the Chinese migrants from the villages. 'Faced with such a critical and desperate situation, the people of Yagla villages in Sog county, bearing in mind the interest of Tibetans, successfully managed to drive out such gangs of Chinese', said one of the villagers, who claimed to have made a point of avoiding personal violence. 'Because we were resourceful in our methods there have been no deaths or injuries to anyone', he said. On 3rd August 1993, troops, probably from the People's Armed Police, and Public Security officials were sent from Lhasa to surround the villages of Yagla. Road blocks were set up and the villages were surrounded, while villagers were check

ed by the officials. Sixty people from Sog county were detained in the initial checks, according to unconfirmed reports, among whom at least 11 were cadres. The names of 18 detainees are available from TIN". (EuroTibet News N·6)