UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities

Fiftieth Session

3 - 28 August 1998

Agenda item 10

Freedom of movement

Statement by the Transnational Radical Party

NGO in general consultative status

21 August 1998

Delivered by Afrim Djonbalic

Mr. Chairman,

We would like to draw the attention of this august body to the issue of the population displacements in the autonomous regions of the People's Republic of China: in Tibet, Eastern Turkestan and Inner Mongolia.

The history as well as the presence of the peoples of these three regions appears to be very similar: Since military annexation of China in the late 1940's (Inner Mongolia in 1947, Eastern Turkestan and Tibet in 1949) they face continuous massive and government sponsored population transfers of ethnic Chinese, and suffer serious violations of their human rights and political rights.

The Transnational Radical Party has been among those organizations which kept stressing the necessity for the international community to undertake decisive steps to put an end to an ever deteriorating situation in these regions.

As a result of the 50 years lasting massive populations transfers and severe birth control policy of the People's Republic of China, the Tibetans, Uighurs and Mongols are faced with danger of becoming a small minority in their own homelands.

In order to transform Tibet, East Turkestan and Inner Mongolia completely into a Chinese provinces, millions of Chinese are being settled in those regions. By pursuing this policy, the Chinese authorities are not only depriving their right to self-government, but also violating the universally accepted rule of international law which prohibits the transfer of citizens to and from occupied territories and the cultural, economic and social rights of these peoples.

The ever-growing Chinese population has brought unemployment, hunger and poverty to the peoples of these regions. Around 90 per cent of positions in public life are occupied by Chinese. The average yearly income of the Uighurs, Tibetans and Mongols amount to about 1/4 to 1/3 of the income of Chinese settlers. Virgin forests have been chopped down to house exclusively Chinese settlers, but thousand of Tibetans, Uighurs and Mongols are still without a shelter. The lack of proper medical treatment results in that almost 70 per cent of illnesses are fatal. Eighty per cent of the children grow up with the poor sanitation; this results that the death-case ratio is the highest in China.

The Mongols, Tibetans and Uighurs are treated as foreigners in China: Millions of Chinese have come to settle in their regions, but if those peoples want to settle in China, they need a special permit which is almost impossible to obtain. There are very different standards for those peoples compared to those of Chinese concerning economic, social and political rights. The Chinese settlers have the right to settle anywhere they want and do business they wish. But Tibetans, Uighurs and Mongols are not allowed to open business in China. If they hurt the feelings of the Chinese, they are severely punished, but if a Chinese kills one of them, he is not even questioned. Despite their rich and old civilization, as the Chinese one, the Tibetans, Uighurs and Mongols are treated as "barbarian", "dirty", "primitive" and "backward" by the great majority of the common Chinese.

Moreover, to restrain their population, tens of thousands of Uighur, Mongol and Tibetan women are being forced to undergo abortion and sterilization. This birth control system has lead to the death of thousands of women and children throughout these regions. Contrary to "one child" policy in China, Chinese settlers in Tibet, East Turkestan and Inner Mongolia are allowed to have more children.

This population policy, accompanied with other serious violations of human rights towards Tibetans, Uighurs and Mongols, threatens to end with complete dissapearance, or dissolution, of these peoples.

It is a high time for the international community and the United Nations to urge strongly the authorities of People's Republic of China to ensure that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is guaranteed both on Chinese and in the annexed territories.

The Transnational Radical Party therefore urges this session of the Sub-Commission to strongly pronounce itself against the above-mentioned policy of the People's Republic of China and to take a strong decision in this sence.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.