Racial Discrimination in Tibet (2000)
- Discrimination in Employment
China has always claimed that it shows "[g]reat concern
for infrastructure facilities construction and basic
industries development in minority areas", and asserted
in 1998 that "[I]n recent years the Central Government
has allocated upwards of 1.2 billion yuan each year
to Tibet as a financial subsidy." In 1994, the state
initiated 62 development projects in Tibet, of which
only 2 remain unfinished. Yet while these statistics
are impressive on the surface, they hide a number of
issues for concern. Firstly, such projects often depend
for their workforce on what local authorities call
‘community contributions' - periods of forced, unpaid
labour. Tibetan families across the region are required
to supply workers for this compulsory work regardless of
their age or occupation, and are expected to put in long
hours of manual labour without training. Not only does
this violate the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, which states that "[n]o one shall be
required to perform forced or compulsory labour", it is
also discriminatory against Tibetans. Refugees have widely
reported that Tibetans must work ‘voluntarily', while the
Chinese workers who toil alongside them are given a small
salary, and enjoy certain other favourable conditions.
Soepa,
a 38 year-old monk from Pelbar County in Chamdo Prefecture,
"TAR", arrived in exile in October 1999. "Some months
before I escaped, a number of monks from my monastery
were called for compulsory labour without pay for four
weeks. If they refused, they were fined 100 yuan. Work on
the construction site was very hard, particularly for the
older monks who had little strength. The Tibetan workers
were given the difficult manual labour and a time limit in
which to finish, while the Chinese performed the lighter
duties and were paid every day. We asked the Chinese why
we weren't paid, and they said since the construction was
done for the Tibetans, they should contribute through
their labour. We found out later that the building we
constructed was used as residence for Chinese officials."
18 year-old
Tenpa Chophue
from Lithang County in Sichuan Province, escaped in
February 1999. "The local authorities decided to build
a school and then a house for one of the heads of our
district, so they came to our village and chose 40 people,
including me, to go and work on the site. The youngest
worker was just seven years old, and the oldest 45. We got
no salary and had to bring our own food, while the Chinese
were paid 25 yuan per day and had food provided at the
site. If somebody did not turn up to work, the contractor
would go to his house and fine them 10 to 15 yuan."
Samten,
a 30 year-old farmer from Kyirong Thil, Kyirong County,
Shigatse Prefecture, stated that every year everyone above
the age of 18 and below 60 from her village must work for
a month for the Chinese government. "Usually we have to
construct houses or roads, and the work is compulsory and
not paid. If a person is absent he will be fined 10 yuan
per day. Tibetans feel very angry doing this work because
all the construction we did - restaurants, shops, houses,
staff quarters - were all for Chinese use."
Twenty-year old
Sonam
from Pashoe County, Chamdo Prefecture, arrived in India
in December 1999. He reported that in April of that year,
the county authorities ordered the village heads in his
district to recruit villagers for the construction of a
power station. "We had to contribute workers according
to the number of our family members. Most of the workers
at the site were Tibetan villagers from 15 years and up,
but there were also some Chinese workers from outside. They
were on a contract, which would apparently give them about
10,000 yuan after the construction was completed, but we
were paid nothing. We were given all the hard work, such
as carrying very heavy loads up the mountainside. Work
was from eight in the morning to seven in the evening,
and if a villager refused to attend, they were fined up
to 500 yuan. When I left my village, the construction was
nearly finished. Some of the other villages in the area
will receive electricity generated by the power station,
but not mine. How can they say this is for our benefit?"
Dawa Dorje,
a farmer from Kyirong County, Shigatse Prefecture in
"TAR", also reported compulsory labour in his area when
he escaped into India in January 2000. "Most of the
Tibetans in my area underwent forced unpaid labour at
one time or another. If you are above 18 and below 60,
you must complete at least 20 days of compulsory labour
a year. If you are sick you are allowed to stay at home
but you then have to work 2 days for every day you were
absent. Work begins at 10 in the morning and continues to
8 at night with only a one-hour lunch break. If you don't
work hard you are scolded, and the Chinese contractor was
very strict. The work we did was mainly road construction
connected with forestry, and of no use to Tibetans. It
was a humiliating experience."
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