More than 200 Tibetans demonstrated outside the United Nations on Tuesday (September 18). They urged world leaders to take action to help prevent more Tibetans from setting themselves on fire to protest Chinese Communist Party rule over Tibet.
51 Tibetans have self-immolated since the burnings first began in 2009, according to advocacy group Free Tibet.
The Tibetan Congress of New York and New Jersey organized Tuesday’s demonstration. Its spokesman, Tenyeng Yangsel, said the group had a message to those attending the 67th U.N. General Assembly.
[Tenying Yangsel, PR Secretary of Tibetan Congress of New York]:
"World leaders and the United Nations, we want to urge them to take multilateral action to push the Chinese government to stop the genocide and stop the terrorism inside Tibet."
Tensions over Tibet are at their highest in years. The spate of protests against communist rule and self-immolations by Tibetan activists have prompted security crackdowns by Chinese authorities.
[Tenzen Tashi, Protestor from Wisconsin]:
"Every month four or five person burn themselves for free Tibet and nobody is hearing from us. So that is the message. Tibet is not part of China. Tibet belongs to Tibet and China out of Tibet now!"
Activists say the Chinese regime has trampled on religious freedom and culture in Tibet since 1950, when the Chinese Communist Party took control of the region.
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