Cases / Protected area / relocation · China · 2024
Human Rights Watch reports about 930,000 relocated in Tibet for ecological protection
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
Human Rights Watch reported in May 2024 that about 930,000 people were moved in Tibet under an 'ecological protection' rationale, and that the moves were not voluntary. The stake is the livelihoods of those moved and whether the protection goal was met.
What?
About 930,000 people were relocated in Tibet under an 'ecological protection' rationale, Human Rights Watch reported. Human Rights Watch
Where?
Tibet Autonomous Region, China Human Rights Watch
When?
Report dated 22 May 2024. Human Rights Watch
Who?
Gained
None on recordLost
- Tibetan residents relocated — Relocated under the ecological protection rationale Human Rights Watch
Harmed
None on recordWhy?
The stated rationale is ecological protection. Human Rights Watch
How?
Relocations were carried out with threats and service cuts applied, according to the report. Human Rights Watch
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
Human Rights Watch reported that about 930,000 people were relocated in Tibet under an 'ecological protection' rationale.
The report is also cited for threats and service cuts used as pressure to move.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: the relocations exceeded 930,000 people and were effectively compulsory at village level, per a China Digital Times relay of Human Rights Watch material.
- Insufficient Reported but not verified: an official phrase, 'Educate the Masses to Change Their Minds', appears in the same relay.
- None on record The Chinese authority that ran the relocations, the compensation paid, and the outcome for the ecological targets are not stated in the sources reviewed.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers
Communities and civil society
- Tibet mass relocations: Tibetans not voluntaryHuman Rights Watch · 2024-05-22
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Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
- China is building a mega dam in Tibet, upstream of India and Bangladesh China · 2024
- Government of China (Government) — here: authority that carried out the relocations, as reported; there: Building the dam, per Radio Free Asia
- China's natural forest logging ban and the shift of timber imports China · 1998–2014
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- Fengyun-1C anti-satellite test China · 2007–2026
- Government of China (Government) — here: authority that carried out the relocations, as reported; there: State that conducted the test
- Fukushima treated water discharge and Chinese seafood ban Japan · 2023–2025
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- Mekong upstream dams and the decline of Tonle Sap flow reversal Cambodia · 1962–2026
- Government of China (Government) — here: authority that carried out the relocations, as reported; there: Operator of the upper Mekong (Lancang) dams; rejected the 2019 low-flow attribution
- Non-peer-reviewed study links China's 1958 sparrow campaign to famine deaths China · 1958–1960
- Government of China (Government) — here: authority that carried out the relocations, as reported; there: ran the Four Pests campaign
- World Bank-backed dams displaced people, and reviews found incomes often not restored Global · 1985–2018
- Government of China (Government) — here: authority that carried out the relocations, as reported; there: Host government for the Three Gorges dam
- Yangtze ten-year fishing ban China · 2020–2030
- Government of China (Government) — here: authority that carried out the relocations, as reported; there: Regulator; ban and compensation