A series of seven protests has taken place in Serthar County in Kandze Autonomous Prefecture in eastern Tibet, in the vicinity of Yushu County where the earthquake struck on 14 April.

Almost every day in the beginning of April small groups or individuals, many of them young monks, staged protests in Serthar County .

The protestors were calling for ’”Freedom for Tibet”, “Human rights for Tibet” and the “Return of the Dalai Lama”. All protesters were detained.

The most recent protest occurred on 8 April when Chinese authorities paraded two monks they had arrested for protesting. When they reached Khar Primary School, students
started throwing stones at the convoy. Later the students distributed leaflets and posters around the school calling for Tibetan independence. Thirty students were detained and later released on bail, while ten are still believed to be held in custody.

These student protests are not the first in the region. A series of protests by middle school children calling for Tibetan independence and the return of the Dalai Lama took place in Gansu Province in Amdo in March. Dozens of students at the Tibetan Middle School in Machu staged a protest on 14 March, the second anniversary of the massive protests in Lhasa in 2008. Dozens of students were detained and questioned and the school’s headmaster and two teaching assistants were fired. Similar protests took place in Kanlho Middle school and Tso Middle School both in Gansu Province.

Rebkong elementary students form a butterlamp of candles