Over 140 Tibet groups – joined by 340,000 supporters – call on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to “Break the silence on Tibet’s residential boarding school crisis”

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14 February 2024

To: H.E. Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Dear High Commissioner Volker Türk,

We are writing to you on behalf of over 140 global Tibet groups, supported by more than 340,000 persons who have signed a joint petition with Tibet Advocacy Coalition and AVAAZ. As of 14 February 2025, over 340,000 concerned individuals have urgently called on you to publicly address the escalating human rights crisis in Tibet and condemn the residential boarding school system, which affects at least 1 million Tibetan children.

Since you assumed office, the human rights situation in Tibet has deteriorated alarmingly. Under the guise of “development” and “education,” the Chinese government has implemented policies that are systematically eroding Tibetan identity, language, and culture. Among the most egregious of these is the vast network of colonial-style residential boarding schools, in which at least 1 million Tibetan children are forcibly separated from their families, placed into state-run facilities where they are forbidden from speaking their native language and subjected to political indoctrination. This is nothing short of a cultural genocide targeting Tibet’s youngest and most vulnerable.

Your silence on this matter is deafening, particularly given the intense concern raised by multiple Special Procedures mandates, Treaty Bodies, and UN States. As the UN’s highest human rights official, your voice carries immense power and influence. Your mandate is not merely a privilege but a profound responsibility, and we, the Tibetan people—and the world—look to you for moral leadership.

We urge you to break your silence. The upcoming 58th session of the Human Rights Council offers a critical opportunity to address the residential boarding school issue in your oral update. Beyond this, we implore you to issue a long-form press release or other public statements condemning the residential boarding school system and to echo the voices of the UN Treaty Bodies in calling for an immediate end to these policies. We further urge you to unequivocally condemn the Chinese government’s restrictions on visits for human rights monitors and to press for meaningful and unfettered access to Tibet for your Office and all Special Procedure mandate holders.

Over 340,000 individuals believe, as we do that your position demands the courage to confront injustices wherever they occur, including in Tibet. The ongoing crackdown cannot be met with indifference. The Tibetan people deserve your unwavering support, and the international community demands that you use your power and voice to speak out against the injustices unfolding in Tibet and against Tibet’s children who face an existential threat to their language, culture and unique identity.

Sincerely,

ON BEHALF OF THE FOLLOWING INTERNATIONAL TIBET NETWORK MEMBER GROUPS: