Nighttime lighting data from detention facilities in Tibet has renewed global discussion about China’s decades long persecution of Tibetans in the autonomous region.
While the report’s findings offer limited insights into the current state of detention across the region, analysts say some evidence shows a fundamental shift in policing.
The study released by the nonprofit RAND Europe research institute shows increased activities at high-security detention facilities in recent years, suggesting a possible shift from low-level detention to longer-term imprisonment and detention in the autonomous region.
Using satellite-based sensors to measure nighttime lighting consumption at detention facilities, RAND Europe said the findings may help improve the outside world’s understanding of China’s “stability maintenance” efforts in Tibet, which the researchers characterize as an “information black hole” to the international community.
“State actors, human rights organizations, academics, and the Uyghur diaspora have all worked to increase our understanding of the situation in Xinjiang in recent years, but we have not had a similar focus on Tibet,” Ruth Harris, director of defense and security at RAND Europe and one of the report’s authors, told VOA.
She hopes the report can “shed light on security and detention facilities” in the Tibet Autonomous Region.
