Sydney, May 19 – An international coalition of Human Rights and environment groups today called on Australian mining company, Sino Gold Ltd, to cease all exploration in Tibet until Tibetans are in a position to freely express their wishes about the use of their resources.
“Tibet’s gold and other resources rightfully belong to the Tibetan people. We believe it is irresponsible to extract non-renewable resources while Tibetans are unable to exercise their internationally recognised rights, including deciding how their resources should be used. Sino Gold should stick to China and keep their hands off Tibet”, Paul Bourke, Executive officer of ‘Australia Tibet Council’, one of the constituents of the coalition, said here today.
“This poses an ethical dilemma for Sino Gold and its shareholders who would be making themselves complicit in supporting the ongoing human rights abuses that have characterised the Chinese occupation of Tibet since China’s invasion in 1949”, he added.
If a mine goes ahead, Sino Gold would be the first foreign company to mine in Tibet, creating a precedent for other foreign companies to exploit non-renewable resources with negligible benefit to Tibetans, the group said.
