Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], January 18 (ANI): Tibetans-in-exile condemned China’s mass DNA collection in Tibet and said that the multinational companies are equally responsible as they send their technologies which help Beijing in collecting data.
While speaking with ANI, Tenzin Lekshay, spokesperson of the Tibetan government-in-exile said, “This is very disturbing to hear about the mass collection of DNA including of children forcibly inside Tibet. There are several reports coming out about the mass collection of DNA without the consent of Tibetan people. We feel the essence of collecting the database the DNA samples are mostly for their own surveillance purposes so this is a violation of human rights. So we condemn this mass collection of DNA samples and the world must see what’s going on in Tibet.”
Meanwhile, Dolma Tsering, deputy speaker of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile said that China is collecting DNA data since 2015 to make the surveillance more stringent.
“China has been collecting DNA without consent from the people since 2015 and this has been published in the HRW publication also and they warned the world to be careful about this. But the Chinese bully we all know. Whatever the world doesn’t do they are busy doing it. It’s a system to make surveillance more stringent. Whatever China do is for a bad purpose. It’s to hamper Human rights violations,” Tsering said.
“Therefore, I would say that it is not only China who is wrong in that, all the multi-national companies who are supplying technologies for DNA testing, So they are equally responsible. China’s intention is to make Tibetan people more frustrated, and then their dream is to comply with whatever dictates they do. Even the Self-immolation is because of this,” she added.
President of the Tibetan youth Congress Gompo Dhondup said that they are concerned with the mass collection of DNA. He urged the international community to interfere and stop China from this illegal activity inside Tibet. The US-based company Thermo Fisher Scientific is providing equipment for DNA collection and that company is equally responsible for the inhuman acts in Tibet.
According to the survey from Citizen Lab, the atrocities against ethnic minorities in Tibet have skyrocketed.
The reports revealed that between June 2016 and July 2022, the police in Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) may have collected between 919,282 and 1,206,962 DNA samples which represents one-quarter (25.1 per cent) and one-third (32.9 per cent) of Tibet’s total population (3.6 million).
The mass testing drives not only targeted men but also women and children in the name of ensuring social stability, however, there is very little evidence that this programme is aimed at countering criminal activity, the European Times reported. (ANI)
This report is auto-generated from ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.