|
>>Interviews with Refugees
Sex: M
Age: 28
From: Amdo
Why did you leave Tibet?: There is no big monastery where I was from, and no good Buddhist education. I couldn’t learn English or learn about Buddhism. I want to visit the Dalai Lama. Hear his teachings and got to Kalchakra in Winter in S.India.
What do you think of Chinese rule over Tibet?: It’s very bad- although I have not seen many people being persecuted, I have heard it happens a lot.
Have you anything good to say about China?: No, they’ve only improved infrastructure to transport minerals to China.
What is your aim in Dharmasala?: Visit the Dalai Lama and be blessed, then join a school & learn English. I want to stay in Dharmasala for 10 years, learn English, then return to Amdo and open a school.
Is your family still in Tibet? Yes
Do you know anyone in Dharmasala?: Only people I have met in the refugee centre.
Do you think Tibet will ever be free from China?: Yes
Do you have anything else you wish to say?: Free Tibet- without freedom, life is hard for all Tibetans.
Sex: F
Age: 30
From: Tsango, Amdo
Why did you leave Tibet?: To visit His Holiness the Dalai Lama & join a nunnery. There are nunneries in Tibet, but numbers of nuns is controlled and many are waiting. I have waited 6 years in Lhasa.
What is your aim?: To be a good nun, and learn English and Tibetan, then maybe return to Tibet and help my village.
What did you think about Lhasa?: I thought there were too many Chinese, and their number was increasing. Most people are waiting for freedom for Tibet, but some have lost hope.
Are Chinese people treated differently in Lhasa?: The same- everyone is rude to each other. Anyone who went to a Chinese school and university can get a good job.
Were there many Chinese in your village? I lived near the Chinese border, so there were many Chinese there.
Did you ever encounter any human rights violations? I heard a lot- there were a lot of former prisoners- for saying things like ‘Free Tibet’.
Sex: M
Age: 17
From: Lhasa
Why did you leave Tibet?: To see Dalai Lama and study English.
What do you want to do in the future?: I have lots of aims, but I’m not sure exactly what I want to do yet.
How was life in Lhasa?: These days, lots of Tibetan teenagers and children are only interested in drinking and smoking. They don’t go to school and just roam around. Older people (both Tibetan and Chinese) just gamble. Tibetan children have become very naughty, and people want to be gangsters. Chinese children are the same. In Tibet, there’s no rules on the street- we used to smoke in classrooms, and we left class when we liked. The children are very uneducated and undisciplined. I think the Chinese government are trying to destroy Tibetan children- many children smoke at least a packet of cigarettes a day, whereas others smoke 2 or 3 packets a day. I started smoking when I was 10 and can’t stop. Others start at 6- there is no age limit for smoking, and cigarettes are very cheap.
Do Chinese people treat Tibetans as inferior?: Some do, others do not.
Sex: M
Age: 5
From: Kham
Why did you leave Tibet?: For food. I have no father, and it was so hard to settle. We were poor and had no land.
How long did it take you to get to Kathmandu?: Very, very long
What family do you have here with you? 2 sisters, Mum and 2 cousins. My father is dead.
Are you happy in the centre?: Yes, the food is good, and I like the classes.
What are you looking forward to in Lhasa? Food! (He doesn’t know who the Dalai Lama is.)
What do you want to learn in school?: Art, English.
Name: Jigme Gyaltso
Sex: M
Age: 25
From: Amdo
Why did you leave Tibet?: I was in jail for 2 years in Drapchi prison. When I finished prison, I was not allowed to join a monastery, stay in my village or even get a job. There were no opportunities, so I came here.
Why did you get put in jail?: This was my second attempt at getting to India- I stayed 4 years in S.India in Drepung, Kanatata as a monk, and went back to Tibet in 2001. I took some cassettes with HHDL’s speeches and photos and a book of the Dalai Lama. I wanted to distribute these, as there are some Tibetans who have no knowledge of Tibet & HHDL. I was arrested on the border.
How was prison?: A struggle. Every morning we had only 15 minutes for toilet and washing, and the sme in the evening. The rest of the day was spent in the cell- no exercise. The food was terrible. We were given Chinese political books to be brainwashed. He only served the sentenced 2 years, and was not held for longer, like he feared he would be.
Did you witness any violence?: If Tibetans refused to read the Chinese books (written in Tibetan), then they were beaten. The books were against HHDL & Tibetan culture. We were tested on the books, and if we failed, we were beaten with batons, or shocked with cattle prods. After a beating, I couldn’t move for 3 days. Cattle prod shocks make you vomit, struggle to breathe and suffer a loss of senses and movement. My body is damaged by Chinese torture- it will reduce my working life.
How many times were you beaten?: 4 times, 3 times badly. Some of the police were even Tibetan, and they acted together with the Chinese police like animals- they have become Chinese in their attitudes- communists.
What do you hope to achieve in Dharmasala?: I want to join a school and learn. I no longer want to join a monastery.
Did any prisoners die in prison?: Not that I saw, but I heard that in 1998, there was a prisoner protest. 3 monks and 2 nuns were killed by Chinese police. The Tibetans were being told the rules in prison. They became angry and were shot by the Chinese police. There were 300-400 people there, men and females segregated. All were political prisoners.
Is there anything else you’d like to say to people reading this?: In Tibet, for Tibetan people, there is no freedom, and the children are uneducated. I feel very sad, but I would like to say thank you to everyone helping Tibet. Everyone needs and deserves human rights. Free Tibet.
Finally, do you have any plans to return to Tibet?: No, they will kill me.
Sex: M
Age: 9
From: Amdo
Why did you leave Tibet?: To go to school.
Was your journey hard?: Yes- I came from the Drum border- I was sick, and I missed my mother, and Lhasa, and I cried a lot.
Did you make any friends?: In my group, there were 6 people, but I was the only child.
What about your family?: I lived in Lhasa with my Grandmother, and my family lived a long way away in Amdo, a long way away.. My father wanted me to go to school in India. He walked me to the Nepal border.
What do you want for the future? To become the principle of a school, or a boss.
What do you look forward to in Dharmasala?: Learning. (He didn’t know who the Dalai Lama was, and once explained to him, felt shy to meet him as he is uneducated).
Do you consider yourself Buddhist?: Yes, but I am uneducated.
|
 |
