Racial Discrimination in Tibet (2000)
Discrimination in Healthcare
Forced Sterilization
Perhaps the most pressing issue concerning discrimination
in the field of healthcare is the violation of the
reproductive rights of Tibetan women. The policy of
"one family - one child" is fundamental law in China
for nationalities with over 10 million persons. Those
nationalities with populations of less than this figure -
of which Tibetans are one - are supposedly subject to less
rigorous rules, but once again these vary from region to
region and even within local administrations. In being
referred to as "administrative guidelines" rather than
laws, these policies are accordingly not published in the
official gazettes, thus giving officials large scope for
discriminatory implementation.
In early February 1999 a Chinese delegation in New York
asserted that "[I]n Tibet, couples at childbearing
age working in the cities are encouraged to have two
children." They also added that "those in rural areas
are encouraged to have more, but there are no mandatory
policies or quotas to enforce this.". China's National
Minorities Policy published later in the same year
suggested similar freedom when it stated that "Tibetan
farmers and herdsman in the Tibetan Autonomous Region may
have as many children as they like". In reality, both of
these claims have been negated by refugees from all over
Tibet, who testify that all Tibetans, regardless of their
region, age or employment, are subject to strict birth
control regimes.
Furthermore, county officials are desperate to reap the
cash rewards and promotions on offer for those meeting the
birth control quota, rather than face severe reprimand
and economic sanctions from the upper levels of the
Chinese administration should they fail. Those families
who therefore adhere to a one-child limit will receive
preferential treatment in a number of fields, "including
school enrolment, medical care and employment'. But this
has failed to convince the vast majority of Tibetans, who
need large families for survival in a rural climate. As a
result, sterilisation and forced abortions have, according
to numerous refugee testimonies, become almost standard
practice in many areas of Tibet.
Tseten Norbu,
30,
was a farmer in Ngamring County, Shigatse Prefecture
before escaping to India in late 1999. "In 1995 the county
authorities told us we could have up to three children per
family, but two years later they restricted the limit to
two. If the limit was exceeded, a fine of 700 yuan from the
father and 550 yuan from the mother of the extra child was
then collected by the local authorities. Being a farming
community, we didn't have this kind of money, so they would
often just take our possessions. Then, in July 1998, two
female Chinese doctors were sent from the county office
to sterilize all the women in the villages of Ngamring
county who had had two children already. They stayed for
two months and 25 days and sterilised over 150 women."
Norbu Tso,
another farmer from Kandze County in Kandze "TAP", reported
that the Chinese authorities regularly visited his village
to enforce their birth control policy. "We were instructed
not to have more than two children. They announced in
September 1997 that a penalty of 1,000 yuan would be
charged for any child born above this quota. My younger
sister was already heavily pregnant with her third child,
so when it was born we had to pay this fine along with many
others in the village who had been caught out. Because the
child was ‘surplus' the authorities refused to issue him
a ration card or identity papers, which will create many
problems when it comes to applying for school or health
care. Meanwhile, all the other women in the village who had
two children already were ordered to undergo sterilisation,
regardless of their age or physical condition. They were
treated like animals, and given very poor operations.
One woman, a 29 year-old called
Sothar Dolma,
died seven days after she was sterilised, but the doctors
gave her cause of death as 'internal ailments'. We knew
the truth, but could do nothing."
19 year-old
Tamden Tsering
from Haiyan County in Qinghai Province escaped to India in
December 1999, and told TCHRD of the policy enforced in his
region. "After a woman gives birth to a second child, she
is taken to the county hospital to be sterilised. All the
women in my village had this done, but three of them died
after the operation. The authorities gave no compensation
to their families, and a month old baby born to one of the
three mothers then died a few weeks later. It was really
terrible. All the women in my village are very scared of
this procedure, but they cannot escape it."
22 year-old
Dhundup
from Gade County, Golog "TAP", Qinghai Province, escaped to
India in January 2000, and reported that the birth control
in his area threatened the very survival of his nomadic
community. "In 1994, the county authorities introduced a
birth control policy in our region specifying that Tibetans
could only have 2 children. If you had more than two, you
had to pay 1500 yuan every year for each extra child until
they were seven years old. My parents were very worried
about this, because they, like all the other nomads in
our community, needed more than 2 children to help work
the land and look after the animals. We have always
had large families so that when the parents grow old,
there are enough children to continue farming and look
after them at the same time. But when a group of nomads
from our region went to the authorities to explain these
problems, the Chinese officials simply replied that more
than two children would ‘overcrowd the land' and that
‘backward' nomads were ‘hindering the progress of the
motherland'. What are we supposed to do? Nomads have very
little education, and it is too late for my parents to
try and start a new way of living. The Chinese just don't
care."
Dhundup also went on to recount direct discrimination
against Tibetan women in the field of sterilisation.
Most women are 'encouraged' to get themselves sterilised
after having their limit of children and once a year
the County authorities order the township officials to
conduct a special lottery. The names of all the Tibetan
women in the township - regardless of age or marital
status - are put into a pot and then one is picked out for
sterilisation. She cannot refuse, and after her operation
she is given a cash payment and a position in the local
administration to show her as a good example. Every year
my family prays together that it will not be one of my
sisters. The Chinese women in my area are safe, because
their names are never put into a lottery like this.
For the rest of the year, the women who refuse to be
sterilised are forced to sign a piece of paper swearing
that they will not have any more children, or show proof
that they are using contraception. The county hospital
supplies contraceptive pills free, but the Chinese
officials who distribute these pills in the township
often charge the women anyway. Sometimes they give all the
pills to one woman and make her responsible for ensuring
that all the other women in her village are taking them
regularly. If any 'extra' children are then born, both
the mother and this woman will be heavily fined.
I have seen many cases in my township of women who discover
that they are pregnant beyond the limit and then take
many contraceptive pills in desperation to try and kill
the baby before it grows. The baby doesn't die however -
it is usually born deformed or handicapped, and the mother
is punished. Most women in my region had to take at least
one pill a day, but some became sick and developed dark
patches under their eyes and pain around their waist from
these pills. Some women chose to have coils inserted in
their uterus instead of taking pills. Most of these women
were very poor and far away from the hospital, so after
a long time the coils would break inside them and cause a
lot of bleeding and pain. Chinese women don't have these
problems because their husbands are given condoms. Tibetan
men are given nothing.
In 1998 alone, TCHRD received reports of 432 women who
were subjected to forced sterilisation or contraceptive
procedures. In some areas up to 80% of Tibetan women of
childbearing age have been sterilised under coercion or
subterfuge. Yet instead of restricting the practice of
these illicit "state policies", the Chinese government
actually endorses them, drawing connections with growth
in the economic sector. An official report in the "Tibet
Daily" on March 23, 1998, stated that "[b]irth control
policy introduced in Nyangdren town in Lhasa was a huge
success. This successful policy has been implemented
with regard to both the family planning procedures of the
People's Republic of China and the existing conditions of
Nyangdren town." The report also states that the family
planning authorities have carried out the policy with "full
co-operation" from the local people. In Nyangdren town,
342 out of 379 married women underwent sterilisation, and
an additional 295 women were provided with contraceptive
pills. An official of the town authority applauded the
"successful performance" of The Department of Health, and
commented that the birth control policy has "[d]irectly
resulted in the alleviation of the living conditions and
reasonably increased the economic growth of the people."
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