(TibetanReview.net, Feb12’26) – The Estonian Parliament, the Riigikogu, has on Feb 11 adopted a statement condemning China for its coercive colonial style boarding school system for Tibetan children that is designed to Sinicize them. The Chinese Embassy in Tallinn has expressed strong dissatisfaction with and opposition to the adoption of the statement.
The statement was brought forward by the Tibet Support Group lobby in the parliament. It was passed with the support of 67 lawmakers, and no opposing vote.
The statement called for “the immediate abolition of the boarding school system and the practice of family separation for children in Tibet,” and urged the authorities of the People’s Republic of China “to allow the establishment of private Tibetan schools,” many of which have been forced to shut down in recent years, with their founders arrested.
Six members of the group spoke passionately during the discussion on the statement, pointed out that Tibetan children as young as four years-old had been separated from their parents and forced into mandatory colonial boarding schools, operated by the Chinese communist regime in Tibet.
The aim, said Ester Karuse, MP, was to bring about the assimilation of the Tibetan children into the majority Han culture, referring to the Tibet Action Institute report “When they came to take our children”.
Other member-MPs who also spoke included Juku-Kalle Raid, Chairman of the group, Tõnis Lukas, Henn Põlluaas, Margit Sutrop, Anti Poolamets.
The Tibet Support Group in Riigikogu is the largest group in the parliament with 24 members out of the House’s total strength of 101. The parliament also has an Estonia-China Parliamentary Friendship Group, with a membership of 14.
The Chinese Embassy in Estonia issued an official communication expressing strong dissatisfaction with and opposition to the adopted statement on Tibet.
Given China’s denial of reports that such a school system exists, the statement urged Beijing to issue visas to European diplomats to visit boarding schools throughout Tibet and allow independent journalists and international observers to enter the region.
The statement – signed by the Speaker Lauri Hussar Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson – also called on other national parliaments to adopt statements in defence of Tibetan children and to forward them to the institutions of the European Union, the United Nations and the Government and Parliament of the People’s Republic of China.
(Source: Tibet.net, Feb 12, 2026)