Tibet has once again earned the unwelcome distinction of being named the least free place in the world.
As in 2022 and 2021, Tibet has scored 1 out of 100 in Freedom House’s survey of political freedoms and civil rights, placing it at the bottom of the table alongside South Sudan and Syria and slightly lower than Eritrea, Turkmenistan and North Korea. At the other end of the table, Finland, Norway and Sweden all scored 100 out of 100.
In its detailed explanation, Freedom House noted a range of negative developments in occupied Tibet in 2022. These included the mass collection of DNA samples from Tibetans, the placement of a million Tibetan children in residential boarding schools and pre-schools and the transfer of thousands of inhabitants to isolation centres as part of the Chinese government’s Zero-COVID policy, where they were kept in crowded, unsanitary conditions.
The destruction of religious and cultural heritage in Drago County and the arrest of local residents was also mentioned.
As in 2022, China scored 9 out of 100 and was categorised as ‘Not Free’.
