China expands Concentration Camps in Tibet

According to a study on Tibet, there has been a significant increase in night lighting in recent years in the high-security detention facilities established by the Chinese regime in Tibet under its control.

According to the researchers, this means that China has "expanded Concentration Camps, which it uses as a tool of repression."

The report by the Rand Europe research institute provided new clues about the "destabilization" policies in the so-called Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), which the Chinese government describes as an "information black hole".

The report examined 79 detention facilities across the so-called TAR and found that growth patterns in nighttime lighting were concentrated in 14 high-security facilities.

It was stated that the light seen from space

and measured on monthly averages may indicate new construction or expansion of existing buildings in Tibet facilities, as determined in previous studies in East Turkistan.

The study said that growth in emitted light could also indicate increased occupancy or use of facilities without physical expansion.

Researchers believe the increased activity likely points to a shift towards longer-term detention "similar to recent observations in East Turkistan," where an estimated 1 million people are sent to re-education facilities and high-security detention centers, The Guardian reported.

Tibet has been under Chinese control since its annexation more than 70 years ago, which the Tibetans describe as an occupation, and Beijing claims peaceful liberation from theocratic rule.

Tibet is among border regions such as Xinjiang and Mongolia that have been subject to long-standing repressions against the religious and cultural practices of non-Han ethnic minorities.

DETAILS ON DETENTION FACILITIES ARE UNKNOWN

However, there is much less information from within the TAR than in other targeted areas such as East Turkistan; Analysts say this is due to extraordinary controls over travel, communications, and information, as well as waning international attention to the government's policies of control and repression.

While researchers are confident that the use of high-security detention facilities continues and is likely to increase, details of who is held there, why, and under what conditions are unknown.

'TIBET CONTINUES TO BE AN INFORMATION BLACK HOLE'

Ruth Harris, Rand Europe's director of defense and security, told the Guardian: "Tibet remains an information black hole, and any attempt to understand the security environment there is fraught with challenges."

"Foreign researchers are denied access to many Chinese sources, and most of the available data is deemed unreliable," Harris said.

Tenzin Choekyi, a senior researcher at the UK-based human rights group Tibet Watch, said it was impossible to know what was going on in detention centers, noting that the nightlight growth pattern coincided with the pandemic.

TAR had reported only one case of COVID-19 before the outbreak in August 2022. But the region was subject to strict and often punitive "zero COVID" policies.