Current campaigns |
In March 2008, knowing the eyes of the world were on China in the run up to the Olympics, thousands of ordinary Tibetans made a courageous stand for freedom, taking to the streets in protest. The Chinese government's response was to throw all journalists and foreigners out of Tibet and bring in tens of thousands of troops to quash all demonstrations and hide the truth abbout Tibet from the critical eyes of the world.
Read more.
Now that the Olympics are over, it is more important than ever to stand up and make sure the world does not forget Tibet.
The T for Tibet hand signal is a quick, easy way to send a clear message:
It’s time to free Tibet!
Join the campaign to add your voice to our celebrity supporters, parliamentarians and freedom lovers around the world.
Visit www.tfortibet.org for more pictures and to upload your own!
Do you stand with the Dalai Lama?
Prime Minister Gordon Brown met the Dalai Lama in May 2008 after a long period of campaigning for him to do so. Now that the Prime Minister has sat down with the Dalai Lama, we urge him to stand up for Tibet. For too long now, the UK and other world governments have claimed to support Tibet by encouraging China’s bad faith negotiations with the Tibetan government-in-exile. Britain was once a great friend of Tibet which makes the failure of successive UK governments to defend our former ally particularly shaming. Now is the time to make up for our past indifference. Gordon Brown must stand with the Dalai Lama if a workable solution to the Tibet issue is to be reached.
Show that you stand with the Dalai Lama by taking part in our slideshow petition here.
At the beginning of March 2008 there were approximately 150 Tibetan political prisoners, the majority of whom were monks and nuns. Now no one knows how many Tibetans have been imprisoned. In the aftermath of the brutal crackdown of recent peaceful protests in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan-populated areas, the Chinese government have hidden events in the region from the world. Eye witness information received by Free Tibet Campaign suggests many hundreds – possibly thousands – of monks, nuns and lay people have been arrested. We know torture of political prisoners is common in Tibet and throughout China. Independent observers must be allowed to return to all Tibetan areas. Until more information is available, we will not be able to update the list of current political prisoners. For general information about our campaign for the release and humane treatment of political prisoners, click here.
Economy & environment
Free Tibet is the only UK NGO actively campaigning against the destructive impacts of China's Western Economic Development Strategy. This Strategy, announced in Beijing in 2000, includes projects which threaten the local environment and Tibetan culture whilst bringing little or no benefit to the Tibetan people. One element of the campaign is our work on the Gormo Lhasa Railway, the multi-billion pound project aimed at bringing tourist and Chinese migrants into Tibet and taking natural resources out. The objective of the campaign is to expose Chinese government lies and the western companies who profit from the destruction of Tibet’s environment and culture.
For more information about the railway’s impacts on Tibet, click here.