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China Steps Up Resettlement of Tibetan Herders
(Reuters; Xinhua) The Chinese government will move more than 52,000 Tibetanherders and farmers into permanent housing during 2008, Xinhua reports, apractice human rights groups say has been marked by abuses. "The project toimprove their living conditions began in 2006, when the regionalgovernment seta target of building homes for 220,000 households", Xinhua said, citing localgovernment officials. "That would mean housing 80 percent of the region'sfarmers and herders by the end of 2010", it added. Beijing says it resettlesTibetans, across all Tibetan areas, not just the Tibet Autonomous Region(TAR),to help protect the environment and boost living standards. But theresettlements often involve the slaughter of animals belonging to the mostlynomadic herders, relocation to poorly built accommodation and inability tofindwork due to lack of skills, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in 2007. Others areforcibly evicted to make room for public works projects, like dams and roads,the group said in a report.
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