07 July 2008
Monks removed from Lhasa’s monasteries
(The Times) As part of a policy to rid the monasteries of any monks not registered as formal residents of the TAR, more than 1,000 monks from ethnic Tibetan regions in neighbouring provinces have been removed from Lhasa’s monasteries and reportedly detained in different locations around the city of Golmud in Qinghai province. The monks were living in Lhasa for studies. They have been told they will be kept in Golmud only until the end of the Olympic Games. "After that they have been told that they will be allowed to leave, because they are not guilty of a crime", one man whose brother is among the detained said, "but they will be ordered to return to their home villages and will not be permitted to go back to the monasteries in Lhasa". There were no reports that any of those being held were being mistreated, he added. Meanwhile, apparently fearing a fresh outburst of unrest on the Dalai Lama's birthday on sixth July, the Chinese authorities tightened security around Tibet's main monasteries on the edge of Lhasa.