Fewer Tibetans escaping due to surveillance : Penpa Tsering

Penpa Tsering was speaking during the inauguration of the seventh Young Tibetan Research Scholar’s Conference organised by the Tibet Policy Institute

The 54-year-old exile leader said, due to geopolitical reasons, the few lines of communication between the people inside and outside Tibet had been banned by India and other countries for security reasons, which had made it difficult to assess the situation.

Tibetan government-in-exile sikyong (president) Penpa Tsering on Wednesday said that the information flow from Tibet had drastically reduced over the years due to intense repression and surveillance, which had made it hard to assess the situation within Tibet.

He was speaking during the inauguration of the seventh Young Tibetan Research Scholar’s Conference organised by the Tibet Policy Institute (TPI). The two-day annual conference is being held online due to Covid-19 pandemic and 33 scholars including Tibetan PhD scholars and PhD candidates from across the world are participating in it.

“The number of Tibetans escaping to exile has also decreased due to increased surveillance at the borders,” said Tsering, adding that only five Tibetans had escaped in 2020 and seven had left in 2021.

“This means that people who can testify about the situation within Tibet through lived experience is also decreasing,” Sikyong said.

The 54-year-old exile leader said, due to geopolitical reasons, the few lines of communication between the people inside and outside Tibet had been banned by India and other countries for security reasons.

Sikyong also urged Tibetans to be cautious of Chinese manipulation to foment conflicts within the Tibetan community-in-exile.