Kalon Tripa met Jason Kenney for about 50 minutes at Hotel Elgin and exchanged a frank and friendly discussion about the Tibetan immigration project. Kalon Tripa explained in detail about the stage of the program and apprised the Minister of the aspiration of the Tibetan community.

Kalon Tripa thanked the Canadian Prime Minister and the Minister himself who have been a long term friend of Tibetan people for immigration programs. Minister Kenney is hopeful of executing the current program successfully which will pave the way for similar programs in the future, and also proposed that he might talk with his Prime Minister to talk with to undertake such immigration project in other countries too.

Among the participants were delegates from the Swiss-Tibetan Friendship Organization (GSTF), Save Tibet Austria, Les Amis du Tibet Luxembourg, the International Tibet Network, the Tibetan Youth Association Europe (VTJE), the Association of Tibetans in Germany (VTD) and the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT).

From 2007 onwards German-speaking TSGs have been meeting on a regular basis to exchange ideas and discuss common strategies. This year's topics ranged from the ongoing crisis in Tibet, the forced settlement of Tibetan nomads, Tibet Lobby Day to the EU Special Coordinator for Tibetan Affairs.

Furthermore delegates seized the opportunity to interview Dr. Eva Lichtenberger, MEP (The Greens, Austria), Vice-President of the Tibet Intergroup in the European Parliament, during a conference-call via Skype.

The presentation questions the terminology used by the Chinese authorities when describing its environmental strategies and methodologies in the Tibetan plateau.

"Some of China's familiar slogans are ‘grazing ban', ‘ecological migration', ‘leap-style development', ‘comfortable housing', ‘grain to green'," says Mr Lafitte.

"Underlying these formulas for reducing Tibet, making Tibet predictable and governable, is the basic metaphor of rangeland degradation."

Mr Lafitte is development policy consultant to the environment & development desk (EDD) of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile.

For the full script of the presentation, visit http://www.outlooktibet.com or http://rukor.org/top-ten-cliches-about-environment-in-tibet/

Holding Tibetan national flags the monks from Shingtri Monastery moved in a procession on the streets of Gepa Sumdo on 15 March. The monks headed towards the local municipal office, shouting slogans for the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, freedom and equal respect for the Tibetan language.

The monks were later joined by thousands of lay people during the peaceful protest. The police have arrested over 50 monks after the protest. Next day, more than 2,000 Tibetans shouted slogans in front of the police station for the release of the arrested monks.

In another incident, a Tibetan student of middle school in Ba Thunte raised voices for the Tibetan people's right to freedom of religion and language. The whole region is currently under severe restrictions.

Dr. Jianli is a survivor of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and has previously spent five years in a Chinese prison.  He is widely recognized as a major leader in China's pro-democracy movement.

Dr. Jianli believes that continued US human rights pressure on China is a critical component for world stability and the peaceful transition to a democratic China.

His act of solidarity not only offers encouragement to the three patriots on hunger strike, but also gives publicity to the cause. Dr. Yang is considered one of the most important international advocates for China's peaceful democratic transition, and his participation is an invaluable contribution the to Free Tibet movement.