Why China is collecting DNA samples from children in Tibet

(Representative image: Reuters/Adnan Abidi)

Chinese authorities are collecting DNA samples from people across Tibet, including young children, Human Rights Watch has said. DNA samples have been gathered from adults to kindergarten children, apparently without the consent of their parents, Human Rights Watch said in a new report published Monday.

Information available to the international advocacy group indicated that people cannot refuse to provide their DNA samples to Chinese authorities. At the same time, police do not need credible evidence of crime to collect the samples.

“A report from a Tibetan township in Qinghai province in December 2020 stated that DNA was being collected from all boys aged 5 and above,” said Human Rights Watch. This is just one of the many instances where DNA samples were collected from people of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), which covers the western part of the Tibetan plateau. Collection drives have also taken place in Tibetan regions outside the TAR.

The stated purpose of the mass collection drives is “crime detection”, but the report also noted that “compelled DNA sampling of an entire region or population for security maintenance is a serious human rights violation, in that it cannot be justified as necessary or proportionate.”

Tibet has been under the control of China since it was annexed more than 70 years ago, according to The Guardian.

DNA collection drives published in Monday’s report began in 2019 under a policing campaign called the “three greats” (inspection, investigation and mediation), according to the newspaper.

“The Chinese government is already subjecting Tibetans to pervasive repression,” said Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch. “Now the authorities are literally taking blood without consent to strengthen their surveillance capabilities.”