Relocation Plan Violating International Law

13-10-2022 

Fleur Harmsen

Tibet and Human Rights Researcher,

Global Human Rights Defense.

  Half of the territory of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) has been rendered off-limits for Tibetans by listing them under the ecological protection red line. Such a line cannot be crossed under Chinese law, as such areas are allegedly located in areas with important ecological functions. 

Since 2012, the Chinese authorities have spent over 12.7 billion yuan on various types of ecological protection projects. Such projects have led to the relocation of hundreds of thousands of Tibetans from their ancestral villages and grazing lands, thus forming Tibetans to abandon their traditional homes.

Such relocation plans do not respect international human rights law. Indeed, article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), article 14(2)(h) of Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and article 27 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC).

Article 25 of the UDHR and article 11 of the ICESCR  writes that all people have the right to housing. Article 14(2)(h) further strengthens this right by undeling the right of women to an adequate standard of living, especially regarding the right to housing. This right must be safeguarded and no woman is to be evicted from her home. Similarly, article 27 of the CRC writes that all children have the right to an adequate standard of living allowing for their mental, spiritual, moral and social development. Any act, by the State, that disallows or disrupts such development is strictly prohibited under this article .

In addition, the United Nations Special Rapporteur Theo van Boven emphasized that ‘the issue of forced removals (...) is considered a practice that does grave and disastrous harm to the basic civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of large numbers of people, both individual persons and collectivities.’ Such repercussions cannot be legally justified under international human rights law.

In this regard, China through its relocation plan is seen to violate articles article 25 of UDHR, article 11 of the ICESCR, article 14(2)(h) of CEDAW and article 27 of the CRC.

Sources and further reading:

Tibetan Review. (2022, October 12).Half of Tibet Autonomous Region rendered off-limit for Tibetans. Retrieved October 12, 2022, from https://www.tibetanreview.net/half-of-tibet-autonomous-region-rendered-off-limit-for-tibetans/