The following is a speech made by the SMHRIC representative Ms. Altantsetseg Borjigin at the Tibetan National Uprising rally in New York on March 10, 2024:

Sain baitsagaanuu! My name is Altanhua Borjigin. I am a Mongolian from Southern Mongolia. On behalf of my colleagues from the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center and the Southern Mongolian exile community, I am honored to be here today to stand with our Tibetan brothers and sisters to mark the Tibetan National Uprising Day. Like Tibet, Southern Mongolia has also been occupied and colonized by the Chinese since over the past 70 plus years.

During these 7 decades, we Southern Mongolians have experienced the darkest chapter of our history. National autonomy has never been realized; political rights were long gone; most basic human rights and fundamental freedom have been completely denied; our tradition and way of life have been systematically wiped out; our natural environment is destroyed and our mineral wealth is taken away. Today, what the Government of China is carrying out in Southern Mongolia is a full-scale cultural genocide, targeting our last defense of national identity which is language. Starting last September, Mongolian language education is officially banned in Southern Mongolia. All Mongolian subjects in all Mongolian schools are taught in Chinese exclusively. This genocidal campaign did not stop there. Signs and sculptures with Mongolian characteristics are brought down; Mongolian books and publications are banned and removed from shelves; Mongolians are condemned, arrested and imprisoned for their resistance to these campaigns. China is carrying out similar genocidal campaigns in Tibet where people are denied their right to practice their religion, denied their right to learn their mother tongue and right to practice their distinct way of life; In East Turkistan, millions of Uyghurs are locked up in concentration camps; in Hong Kong, people’s demand for democracy and freedom has been brutally suppressed.

Despite all these heavy-handed repression, we Southern Mongolians, Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hong Kongers are still here standing in solidarity to demand our rights, demand our dignity and demand our national freedom. I believe, firmly believe, one day we all will be free, free from any form of Chinese interference.

Thank you.