Tibetan farmland seized for new airport
| Publisher | Radio Free Asia |
| Publication Date | 17 April 2018 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Asia, Tibetan farmland seized for new airport, 17 April 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b2221f0a.html [accessed 21 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
2018-04-17
A map showing the location of Lhatse county in Tibet's Shigatse prefecture. RFA
Chinese authorities have seized farmland in southern Tibet to build an airport, displacing Tibetan villagers and offering far less in compensation than the land is worth, according to a Tibetan living in the area.
The land, belonging to Yushang village in the Chusha municipality of Shigatse prefecture's Lhatse county, was targeted for development according to a plan announced in January by officials in the prefecture and the Tibet Autonomous Region, the source told RFA's Tibetan Service.
"For Tibetans in Chusha, farming has been their main source of livelihood for many years, and is a tradition handed down to them by their ancestors," the source said, adding that, "The loss of so much land to Chinese development projects is having a negative impact on the daily life of the local people."
"Now Chinese authorities are planning to build an airport on [Chusha's] farmland, and local Tibetans are being compensated at rates less than the land's market value," he said.
Chinese projects have already been under way on vast stretches of land lying near Lhatse county, with new buildings being constructed, for more than a decade, the source said.
"But there is now a promise of new airports and railway stations in all these areas, and these will form a hub of activities for tourists and transportation links in all directions," he said.
China's construction of airports and other development projects in Tibet have done little to lift Tibetans out of poverty and serve mainly to consolidate China's presence on the Tibetan plateau, according to a researcher at the Dharamsala, India-based Tibet Policy Institute (TPI).
"Tibetans who are the owners of the land draw little benefit from these," TIP researcher Rinzin Dorjee said in a 2016 paper, "China's Transport and Infrastructural Build-Up in Tibet."
"Primarily, the infrastructure build-up in Tibet is unilaterally decided and imposed by Beijing without the consent [of] or consultation with the Tibetan people."
Reported by Dolma for RFA's Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Link to original story on RFA website
