(TibetanReview.net, Mar16’21) – A petition bearing signatures of over 3,000 supporters was submitted to the Swiss government on Mar 10, seeking a humanitarian solution to around 300 failed Tibetan asylum seekers, said the Tibet Bureau, Geneva, Mar 15. There is no suggestion that the Swiss government will consider it favourably. A recent study by four Tibetologists from Switzerland, Germany and France were stated to have found “substantial deficits”; “unacceptable errors”; and “so many deficiencies” in the Swiss government’s method for evaluating the applicants “that a neutral and objective evaluation is not possible”.
The petition was stated to have been submitted to the Swiss Federal Chancellery in the presence of Hon’ble Fabian Molina, Member of the National Council, the upper chamber of the Swiss Parliament who is also the President of the Swiss Parliamentary Group for Tibet.
The “mass signature campaign” was stated to have been jointly organized by the Swiss-Tibetan Friendship Association; the Tibetan Community of Switzerland and Lichtenstein; the Tibetan Women’s Association of Switzerland; and the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe.
The petition was stated to note that the asylum applications were rejected based on lingua analysis and due to lack of identity papers, even though Tibetan identity cards were issued by the Central Tibetan Administration and the Tibet Bureau Geneva were submitted.
One of the devastating findings of the four Tibetologists was stated to be that one of the lingua analysis experts, code named “AS19”, was “obviously very China-friendly.” His statements were found to be similar to official Chinese state propaganda.
Lingua analysis is an analysis by “experts” who carry out language and knowledge analysis on asylum seekers to ascertain country of origin.
Switzerland has made it clear that Tibetans are categorized as “Chinese” nationals, raising fears that failed Tibetan applicants may be deported to China under a bilateral agreement. Under this agreement, Chinese officials were invited by Switzerland to interview persons of Chinese origin for their possible deportation to China.
