About Tibet
Tibet is a unique place. A land of snows and mountains, including Mt Everest, the source of Asia’s major rivers and home to a distinctive Buddhist civilisation. It is also the traditional home of the Dalai Lama, one of the world’s most renowned spiritual leaders and Nobel peace laureates. In March 1959, after the Tibetan uprising against China’s military rule was crushed, the young Dalai Lama and much of his government fled into exile in Northern India, where his democratically elected exiled administration now oversees the needs of 130,000 Tibetan refugees.
Much of Tibet’s indigenous culture and religion was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. More recent Chinese policies have imposed heavy paramilitary security and surveillance, religious restrictions, mass population transfer and re-education. Meanwhile, as its mineral wealth has been exploited, Tibet’s fragile ecology has been compromised by mining, deforestation and large-scale damming projects. Tibetans have sought various ways to protest – from mass uprisings to self-immolation – but loosely worded state security laws have been used to suppress dissent and numerous UN bodies have expressed grave concern about arbitrary detentions and the use of torture. Nevertheless, Tibetans remain committed to the Buddhist principles of peace and non-violence and the aim of the Tibetan government in exile is to resolve the situation through dialogue with China.
Much of Tibet’s indigenous culture and religion was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. More recent Chinese policies have imposed heavy paramilitary security and surveillance, religious restrictions, mass population transfer and re-education. Meanwhile, as its mineral wealth has been exploited, Tibet’s fragile ecology has been compromised by mining, deforestation and large-scale damming projects. Tibetans have sought various ways to protest – from mass uprisings to self-immolation – but loosely worded state security laws have been used to suppress dissent and numerous UN bodies have expressed grave concern about arbitrary detentions and the use of torture. Nevertheless, Tibetans remain committed to the Buddhist principles of peace and non-violence and the aim of the Tibetan government in exile is to resolve the situation through dialogue with China.
For more information about Tibet, please see our reports page or use the various links provided below. These include links to the websites of the Central Tibetan Administration (also referred to as the Tibetan government-in-exile), the Tibetan Community in Britain and the NGOs which are currently working with the cross-party group.