2,693 people from majority Tibetan townships were relocated earlier this year
The Chinese government has completed the relocation of 2,693 people from three Tibetan-majority townships to a new site in Pema Town, Pashoe County.
The relocation project has taken several years and was finished in July, Tibet Watch said. The relocated residents were from Kyari, Yangpa and Wa Townships. 99 percent of the population of each township is Tibetan according to the Tibet Township Index published by Tsering Wangyal Shawa in 2010.
The entire population of the three townships was moved by the government, which also offered incentives for people to move.
Officials told citizens it would benefit them economically to move, telling the residents of the "rare opportunity" of a better life compared with their present conditions. Authorities showcased modern schools, medical facilities and job opportunities to incentivise them to move, Tibet Watch said.
There is no further information about the level of coercion used during the relocation process. There have been several large-scale relocation programmes in Tibet in recent years, including the removal of millions of rural Tibetans from their pastures to urban settlements consisting of prefabricated houses.
Tibetans who have been forced to relocate have often seen their land used as the site for construction, mining or extraction projects.
Information supplied by Tibet Watch.
Take action
If you have not already done so, please take and share our action, calling on authorities in Sichuan Province to release Dolkar and Wangchen, two Tibetans arrested following birthday celebrations for the Panchen Lama.