Khenpo Sonam Tenphel, the Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, wrote to the leaders of the G-20 or the Group of Twenty – an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union, to bring their attention to Tibet and urged 10-point appeal.

The Speaker wrote, “As the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, the democratically elected leaders in exile and the representatives of over six million Tibetans, both within Tibet and in exile, we would like to extend our heartiest congratulation to India for holding this year’s G20 presidency and all the other members of G20 countries for successfully engaging in the forum.”

“However, we would like to take this opportunity to bring to the attention of Honorable Delegates and the observers of G20 Countries, the pressing issues faced by the Tibetan people under the Chinese communist regime. The Tibetan people have been traumatized by the systematic violations of their most fundamental human rights, threat to their distinct cultural and national identity, massive environmental destruction and indiscriminate exploitation of mineral, water and forest resources which led to the destruction of the entire Tibetan Plateau also impacting the world climate at large since the People’s Republic of China (PRC) invaded Tibet in 1949.”

“Tibet serves as a major source of river systems in Asia that flows through almost 10 countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and most of the Southeast Asian countries including China itself. Ever since the occupation, China has been building dams to control the flow of these waters and the consequences of this environmental interference are directly felt by these respective countries. The cascading effects of the climate crisis due to the destruction of Tibet’s environment have become more pressing each and every day.”

“Historically Tibet was an independent nation having a defined territory, distinct population, and governments and maintained diplomatic relations with its neighbouring countries. Geographically Tibet existed as a buffer state for more than two thousand years between two Asian Giants, India and China until its illegal occupation by China in 1959.”

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