Representative Thinlay Chukki congratulates the new members of the Swiss Parliamentary Group for Tibet.
The Swiss Parliamentary Group for Tibet was re-established after the elections in Switzerland and held its first meeting on 5th March 2024 in the parliament building on the sidelines of the ongoing spring session of the Swiss Parliament. During the meeting, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration for Central and Eastern Europe, Ms. Thinlay Chukki, congratulated the members on winning the elections and thanked them for continuing their strong support for Tibet.
The meeting was attended by co-presidents of the Swiss Parliamentary Group for Tibet, Fabian Molina, Nicholas Walder, and Nik Gugger, vice president of the group Maya Graf, members of the group Barbara Gysi and Mathias Zopfi; and his personal assistant Kai. Mr. Phuntsok Topgyal, UN Advocacy Officer from Tibet Bureau Geneva; Mr. Thomas Büchli, President of the Swiss-Tibetan Friendship Association; and Ms. Fanny Lona Morel, co-ordinator of the French section of the Association, also attended the meeting, along with Representative Thinlay Chukki, who virtually participated in the meeting.
The co-presidents of the group welcomed all the participants to the meeting and discussed future plans for the group. After congratulating the parliamentarians, Representative Thinlay briefed them on the deteriorating situation inside Tibet. She also thanked them for voicing their grave concerns about Tibet both inside the Swiss Parliament and outside. She also extended an open invitation to the parliamentarians to visit Dharamshala the headquarters of the Central Tibetan Administration, as well as the current abode of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
Mr. Phuntsok Topgyal provided a briefing on the evolving situation in Dege, Tibet, where more than 1000 Tibetans have been detained for peacefully protesting and appealing to Chinese government officials to halt the dam project. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been forcibly relocating several Tibetans in Dege County under the guise of expansion and development. The parliamentarians expressed their grave concerns about the matter and agreed to discuss the issue during the parliamentary proceedings.
Mr. Thomas Buchli presented a synopsis of Michael van Walt’s book “Tibet Brief 2020” and distributed copies of its German translation to the Parliamentarians. Representative Thinlay explained that the Sino-Tibet conflict is an international issue and that there is a need for the international community to acknowledge it in accordance with international law.
The spring session of the Parliament began on 26th February and will continue until 15th March 2024.
Mr. Phuntsok Topgyal, UN Advocacy Officer of the Tibet Bureau in Geneva, attends the meeting of the Swiss Parliamentary Group for Tibet in Switzerland.
The meeting of Swiss Parliamentary Group for Tibet
The meeting of Swiss Parliamentary Group for Tibet.