Nomadic resettlement Q&A

China's policy to end the nomadic way of life in Tibet

 

 Why it matters to millions throughout Asia and what you need to know 

 1) Who are Tibet’s nomads?


Tibet’s nomads are the original inhabitants of the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau environment where they have grazed their herds of yak, sheep and goats for more than 4,000 years. They are estimated to make up approximately 2.25 million of the overall 6 million population of Tibetans living on the Plateau. They have sustained their way of life for so long by practising seasonal migration: in the short summer months they move their herds over vast distances, grazing their herds on the Plateau’s rich grasslands. In the harsh long winter months the nomads travel similarly long distances to their winter settlements to take their herds to market.

2) What’s the problem they are facing?

 

In March 1998 the Chinese government announced its new policy to end the nomadic way of life in Tibet. Since then hundreds of thousands of nomads have been either:

 

-          forcibly resettled, or relocated, from their grassland homes altogether into permanent dwellings in Tibetan towns, or

 

-          forced into new permanent dwellings in their grassland areas which are becoming increasingly fenced in.

 

Either way, the policy to settle or resettle the nomads into more permanent housing prevents the nomads from pursuing the nomadic way of life which has sustained their livelihoods for thousands of years.

 

3) What does this mean for the nomads?

 

Their livestock are seized, and often slaughtered. Compensation is often small and runs out after a few years. Attempts by nomads to complain against the arbitrary measures are ignored by the local authorities.

 

Up until now nomads have depended on their land and herds for survival. With these being increasingly confiscated, the nomads lack the education and skills to find employment in Tibet’s increasingly urban economy. Instead, they become trapped in poverty; evidence suggests that the lack of employment opportunities is leading increasingly to mental health issues, alcohol misuse and other social problems, including theft.

 


The many styles and colours of nomadic Tibet
PHOTOS: Anthony Alvarez and Falsalama (centre)

 

4) How many nomads are affected?

 

1.43 million Tibetan nomads and farmers into new or fixed settlement homes and another 185,500 families are expected to move into new homes by 2013  according to an article in government mountpiece Xinhua, January 2011.

 This is a huge number when one considers that the overall nomadic population of the Tibetan Plateau is around 2.25 million and that the overall population of all Tibetans on the Plateau is in the region of 6 million.

 

5) Why does the Chinese government want to remove the nomads from the grasslands?

The Chinese state says that global climate change and nomads are responsible for the degradation of land by overstocking pastures, failing to kill a higher proportion of their yaks.

In reality grassland degradation is caused by decades of failed policy forced on nomads. The government's solution to the environmental degradation is to move nomads off their land and resettle them in permanent housing.

Some data about the extent of degradation and rate at which it is increasing is based appear to be from undocumented and methodologically dubious surveys. Recently Chinese grassland scientists have started to talk to nomads and to learn and listen. Chinese scientific reports acknowledge the skilful , productive and sustainable land management strategies of nomads but state policy is set.

The real reason is China’s determination to ransack Tibet’s vast natural resources. The Chinese for Tibet is “Xizhang” meaning “western treasure house”. China has long wanted to plunder Tibet’s mineral wealth to fuel its booming economy.  But in order to plunder Tibet’s vast mineral and water resources through the building of dams and mines, China first had to remove Tibet’s nomads from their land.

China has even gone so far as to admit its political motivation to resettle Tibet’s nomads. In 2007, Party Secretary Zhang Qingli stated that the restructuring of Tibetan farming and grazing communities was not only to promote economic development, but to counteract the Dalai Lama’s influence.
 

 

6) Why are yaks so important to the nomads' way of life?


Around 85% of the world's yaks live on the Tibetan Plateau. They have evolved to survive in the high altitude environment and are essential for the very survival of the nomads in this harsh environment.

Nomads keep yaks in herds of around 20 to 100, and not only do these herds provide the nomads with milk and meat, but their hair and skin are used for clothing and their dung is burnt to heat the nomads' tents. Being strong animals, able to carry heavy lods across mountain passes, the nomads also use the yak as a mode of transportation.

When the yaks are confiscated or slaughtered to clear the land for industrial projects, the ties between nomads and their yaks are severed. With hundreds of thousands of nomads being forced into resettlements, losing their herds, this sustainable co-existance between nomad and yak is being lost forever.

 

7) What do the nomads think about the policy to resettle?

 

Nomads that have fled into India and who have spoken to Free Tibet say they resent being made to work in towns where they have no skills to gain employment and where they can only make a very rough living from menial labour. Many nomads state they resent being forced into dependence on handouts from the authorities. As one nomad recently arrived in India told Free Tibet:

 


 “The Chinese government intends to remove Tibetan nomads from their grasslands….because if nomads are forced to quit their traditional livelihoods and skills they will be forced to depend on the Chinese government, making it easier for the government to conrol Tibetans”.

8) OK, but why should I care about what is happening so far away in Tibet?

 

The Tibetan Plateau is the earth’s Third Pole: it is home to the world’s largest store of ice outside the North and South Poles. Ecosystems in the form of glaciers and great rivers like the Indus, Mekong and Yangtse are to be found on the Plateau. These ecosystems store huge quantities of water, vital not only to the livelihoods of those on the Plateau, but also to more than one billion people who live in the downstream stages of these rivers across Asia. The long-term survival of these glaciers and rivers, and the water stored in them, are in grave danger due to the glacial melt caused by rapidly rising temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau. Even the Chinese government has admitted that temperatures on the Plateau are rising four times faster than elsewhere in China. Tibet’s resulting glacial meltdown has potentially catastrophic consequences for the preservation of water resources throughout Asia.

 

But despite scientific research, including by Chinese scientists, which shows that the nomads’ traditional and sustainable migratory agriculture actually promotes the health of the Plateau’s grasslands and its ecosystems and water resources, the Chinese government is set on a policy to permanently remove more than two million nomads from the grasslands just when their presence as stewards of the Plateau has never been more vital. In fact, the nomads are being removed so that China can build more dams on the Plateau – China’s solution to glacial meltdown. This may help preserve China’s own water resources, but it may threaten those of more than a billion Asians living downstream.


Map of rivers originating in Tibet

 

9) OK. So what does Free Tibet want?

 

Free Tibet wants the Chinese government to:

 

  • Halt the removal of Tibetan nomads from the grasslands and return stewardship of Tibet's grasslands to Tibet's nomads.

               

  • Halt all land uses that threaten the Tibetan Plateau's ecosystems, ecosystem services and water resources.

               

  • ensure that Tibetan nomads are the key decision-makers in any activities involving Tibetan grasslands and that the nomads freely consent to any efforts made to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change in the region. 

 

And what are you doing about it?

Free Tibet is working hard to raise awareness among the public (through the media) and key decision-makers of China’s resettlement policies and its negative consequences for both the nomads and people throughout Asia.

Free Tibet is also worked with others to bring the voice of Tibet’s nomads to the UN’s climate change conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 under the banner of “Tibet Third Pole”.

In December 2010 we submitted our evidence to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food about the plight of the nomads. The Rapporteur in turn called on China to halt the policy of nomadic resettlement. Read Free Tibet's submission to the UN.

 

  
Nomads are unable to practice their free roaming culture (left) when forced to move into desolate housing complexes (right)
PHOTOS: Falsalama

 

What can I do?

 

  • But a virtual yak and decorate it as nomads do! This is a great fun way to help fund our work to stop forced nomadic resettlement!
  • Donate to Free Tibet to fund our vital campaigning work to halt nomadic resettlement.
  • Write to your MP or elected representative to express your concern at China’s resettlement policy and to urge your representative to call on his/her government to ratify ILO 169.
  • Print our action postcard and send it to your MP or local politicians.

 

 

And how can I find out more?

Click here to read more in depth analysis about Tibet’s nomads and China’s resettlement policy.
Click here to read the full text of the convention ILO 169 (.pdf file)
Click here to see an up-to-date list of countries which have ratified the convention

Background on the threat to nomads

Read more in depth information about the lives of nomads and how the Chinese government is putting this ancient and unique lifestyle at great risk by persuing its policy to force almost one million nomads to resettle by 2011.

 
Read more
  
Testimony of a resettled nomad

Free Tibet has gathered testimony from nomads who have been forcibly resettled. Here, a nomad named Tenzin talks at length about how forced resettlement has affected her and how she longs to return to the plateau.

 
Read more
The Third Pole

Tibetan nomads are being forced off their land to make way for industrial projects which are highly damaging to the delicate Tibetan plateau. The effects of these industries could have devestating effects for bullions living in Asia.

 
Read more
  
Adopt a virtual yak!

Help fund our nomadic campaign by adopting a virtual yak for £3, which will be added to our virtual plateau. You can decorate your yak as nomads do, and help us fill the plateau just as it should be in Tibet!

 
Adopt YOUR virtual yak here!