Peter Terpstra
2012-09-18 15:55:29 UTC
Tibet again cut-off from outside world ahead of Party Congress
Phayul [Saturday, September 15, 2012 13:34]
DHARAMSHALA, September 15: China has once again cut off Tibetan areas
from the outside world with fresh travel restrictions on foreign visitors.
According to several tour operators, China stopped issuing travel
permits for foreign visitors from September 1, Travel Weekly reported.
The restrictions, the third time this year alone, follows closely on the
heels of recent announcements of multi-million dollar tourist projects
in the region, aimed at promoting Tibet as a world tourist destination.
Although the duration and the reason behind the latest move is not
officially known, observers believe that the restrictions could be part
of precautionary measures in the lead-up to the 18th Chinese Communist
Party Congress, due to take place sometime in late 2012.
“Right now, China is not allowing anybody in,” Will Weber, co-founder
and co-director of Journeys International, told Travel Weekly.
“Last year they did the same thing,” Anita Captain, director of Greaves
Tours said. “Last year it lasted for a month and this year, no idea.
They don’t give a reason.”
In June, China stopped issuing travel permits to outside visitors just ten
days after the May 27 self-immolation protests by two young Tibetans,
Dorjee Tseten and Dargye, in the nation’s capital Lhasa.
Earlier this year Tibet was again cut off beginning mid-February through
March, encompassing two important events; the Tibetan New Year from
February 22-24 and the Tibetan national uprising day commemorated on
March 10.
China had made obtaining permit for travel to Tibet more stringent by
requiring that people travel in a group of five or more, and all be of
the same nationality. As of August the Tibet Tourism Bureau still
restricted permits from being issued to citizens of six countries: UK,
Norway, Korea, Austria, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Following the ongoing wave of self-immolations in Tibet, Chinese
authorities have implemented a massive security drive aimed at expelling
Tibetans from eastern Tibet and also from outside Lhasa to their native
regions.
The global rights group Human Rights Watch in a July release noted that
China’s “extreme measures” adopted in response to the May 27
self-immolation protests could further “deepen” tensions in the region.
“This arbitrary expulsion of people because of their ethnicity or place
of birth is clearly discriminatory and violates their basic rights to
freedom of movement and residence,” HRW said.
Phayul had earlier reported that Tibetans from eastern Tibet and outside
Lhasa, including those who have lived in Lhasa for many years with
permanent residence and businesses, are being forcibly expelled.
Chinese security agencies are stopping and searching Tibetans in Lhasa,
asking them to produce five different kinds of official papers to
legalise their stay in the capital city, failing which they are being
sent back to their native villages and towns.
Phayul.com
http://tinyurl.com/99haxss
Phayul [Saturday, September 15, 2012 13:34]
DHARAMSHALA, September 15: China has once again cut off Tibetan areas
from the outside world with fresh travel restrictions on foreign visitors.
According to several tour operators, China stopped issuing travel
permits for foreign visitors from September 1, Travel Weekly reported.
The restrictions, the third time this year alone, follows closely on the
heels of recent announcements of multi-million dollar tourist projects
in the region, aimed at promoting Tibet as a world tourist destination.
Although the duration and the reason behind the latest move is not
officially known, observers believe that the restrictions could be part
of precautionary measures in the lead-up to the 18th Chinese Communist
Party Congress, due to take place sometime in late 2012.
“Right now, China is not allowing anybody in,” Will Weber, co-founder
and co-director of Journeys International, told Travel Weekly.
“Last year they did the same thing,” Anita Captain, director of Greaves
Tours said. “Last year it lasted for a month and this year, no idea.
They don’t give a reason.”
In June, China stopped issuing travel permits to outside visitors just ten
days after the May 27 self-immolation protests by two young Tibetans,
Dorjee Tseten and Dargye, in the nation’s capital Lhasa.
Earlier this year Tibet was again cut off beginning mid-February through
March, encompassing two important events; the Tibetan New Year from
February 22-24 and the Tibetan national uprising day commemorated on
March 10.
China had made obtaining permit for travel to Tibet more stringent by
requiring that people travel in a group of five or more, and all be of
the same nationality. As of August the Tibet Tourism Bureau still
restricted permits from being issued to citizens of six countries: UK,
Norway, Korea, Austria, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Following the ongoing wave of self-immolations in Tibet, Chinese
authorities have implemented a massive security drive aimed at expelling
Tibetans from eastern Tibet and also from outside Lhasa to their native
regions.
The global rights group Human Rights Watch in a July release noted that
China’s “extreme measures” adopted in response to the May 27
self-immolation protests could further “deepen” tensions in the region.
“This arbitrary expulsion of people because of their ethnicity or place
of birth is clearly discriminatory and violates their basic rights to
freedom of movement and residence,” HRW said.
Phayul had earlier reported that Tibetans from eastern Tibet and outside
Lhasa, including those who have lived in Lhasa for many years with
permanent residence and businesses, are being forcibly expelled.
Chinese security agencies are stopping and searching Tibetans in Lhasa,
asking them to produce five different kinds of official papers to
legalise their stay in the capital city, failing which they are being
sent back to their native villages and towns.
Phayul.com
http://tinyurl.com/99haxss