New US budget allocates $17 million for Tibet projects

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President Donald Trump. (Photo courtesy: CNN)

(TibetanReview.net, Feb21’19) – The US government has approved a new total of $17 million funding for Tibet-related projects in its latest budget which also averted a government shutdown. President Donald Trump signed the ‘Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019’ on Feb 15, sanctioning the fiscal year 2019 funding for several government departments through Sep 30, 2019.

The budget includes an allocation of not less than $8 million for the Tibet Autonomous Region and other Tibetan communities in China. In addition, not less than $6 million is allocated for the Tibetan community in India and Nepal. Besides, there is a not less than $3 million budget allocated for strengthening the capacity of Tibetan institutions and governance in exile.

These are stated to be in addition to existing funding from the US government for ongoing Tibetan programmes.

The Tibet section is listed under ‘East Asia and the Pacific’ in Sec. 7043 (G) of the Act of 2018, said the Central Tibetan Administration on its Tibet.net website Feb 20.

It is stated in the terms of the allocation for projects in Tibet that they should not provide incentives for the migration and settlement of non-Tibetans into Tibet or facilitate the transfer of ownership of Tibetan land and natural resources to non-Tibetans. Rather, they should be based on a thorough needs-assessment, foster self-sufficiency of the Tibetan people and respect Tibetan culture and traditions. And they are required to be subject to effective monitoring.

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