Forced Evictions Continue at Tibetan Buddhist Institutes in China
What you need to know
Up to 1,000 nuns at Yachen Gar in Sichuan have been evicted by officials from the Tibetan Autonomous Region and have been told they are not allowed to join any monastery or nunnery there, or carry out public religious rituals or practices.
Following reports of the late July demolitions at the Tibetan Buddhist institute Larung Gar in China's Sichuan Province, another 1,000 nuns have been evicted at Yachen Gar, a major monastic encampment in the province, according to a Human Rights Watch report.
Larung Gar is one of the world's largest Buddhist teaching centers and authorities said the demolitions in July were “necessary in order to carry out ‘correction and rectification,’” HRW says.
The county order given to the institute in June states, “By September 30, 2017, the population of the encampment must be limited to 5,000 persons; the numbers of expelled persons and demolished buildings should basically correspond.”
More than 10,000 monks and nuns were residing at the site when the order was issued, and three nuns at Larung Gar committed suicide in protest at the mass demolitions.
The July demolitions removed 2,000 residences. Tourists and locals were barred from taking photos or videos of the destruction, Radio Free Asia reported .
It is said the demolitions for this year have concluded but will resume next year.
Human Rights Watch says there were “unconfirmed reports that officials plan to offer compensation of up to 20,000 yuan (US$3,000) to those forced to leave Larung Gar or whose homes have been demolished.”
U.S. State Department Spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau told a daily press briefing on Aug. 8, “We urge authorities to cease actions that may escalate tensions and to pursue forthright consultations with the institute’s leaders to address any safety concerns in a way that does not infringe on the right of Tibetans to practice their religion freely.”
However, HRW reported today that since April, up to 1,000 nuns at Yachen Gar have been evicted by officials from the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) – as opposed to local authorities – and have been requested to return to their homes in the TAR.
TAR officials have also “pressured the families of nuns from the TAR to return immediately to their registered homes or face serious punishments, such as confiscation of family identity cards.”
Nuns who have returned to the TAR “have been told that they are not allowed to join any monastery or nunnery there, or carry out public religious rituals or practices,” a source told HRW.
“The authorities’ strategy of demolitions, expulsions, threats, and restrictions on religious practice is clear-cut evidence of an attack on religious freedom, not the actions of a genuinely concerned government trying to address a housing problem,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at HRW.
First Editor: Edward White
Second Editor: J. Michael Cole