The following is the full statement of Enghebatu Togochog, Director of SMHRIC, at the United Nations Forum on Minority Issues 12th Session "Education, Language and Human Rights of Minorities" held in Geneva from November 28 to 29, 2019:

Madam Chair, distinguished members of the Forum,

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to bring to your attention the issues and problems faced by the six million Mongolians in China.

Designated as one of the 55 “national minorities” which later were depoliticized to “ethnic minorities”, the Mongolian people have been continually denied the most basic rights to their language, culture, education and traditional way of life, let alone political autonomy in the so-called “Autonomous Region”.

Madam chair, let me give you few concrete examples of how these rights are violated by the Government of China:

Starting 2001, the Chinese government implemented a number of policies including “ecological migration”, elimination of Mongolian schools at rural level and merger of Mongolian schools to Chinese schools. In the entire Mongolian area, the number of Mongolian student enrollment has dropped by 86% since 1980.

Today, for 210,000 Mongolian inhabitants of the regional capital, Hohhot, only 2 Mongolian elementary schools allow Mongolian as language of instruction. 

In a recent case, the school authorities in Ulaanhad City banned Mongolian teachers and students from speaking in Mongolian in the campus; postal authorities are refusing to deliver letters and other items addressed in Mongolian even though Mongolian is said to be one of the two official languages in the Autonomous Region.

Mongolian students are denied the opportunity for employment and career development; In some cases, Chinese employers including some government agencies publicly stated in their employment requirement that “no candidate educated in Mongolian is considered”.

Mongolian writers and bloggers are often accused of “engaging in national separatism” and arrested, detained and imprisoned. This year alone, five writers and bloggers have been arrested under the accusation of “national separatism”. One of them, Mr. Lamjab Borjigin, author of “China’s Cultural Revolution”, was sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year reprieve on charges of “sabotaging ethnic harmony” and “engaging in national separatism”.

Madam chair, China is a signatory to a number of UN human rights conventions and treaties. Yet, the Government of China has continually denied any obligation to these conventions and treaties and continue to violate the basic human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Mongolian people.

Thanks you, Madam chair!

The following is the Chinese Government delegation's response to SMHRIC statement at the Minority Forum (English):

Madam chairperson, just now there is some allegation made by certain organizations which are motivated by their own political agenda against China. We categorically reject those accusations. The contents and facts of the speeches are totally unrelated to the topic of this meeting this afternoon, that is the linguistic rights of women and girls. We attach great importance to the education of ethnic minority regions. The nine-year compulsory education system has covered all the ethnic minority regions. Now, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has in place a four-system of education covering pre-school, primary, secondary school and universities, covering per stages such as training of teachers, curriculum design, recruitment of students and the service of graduates. In Inner Mongolia, there are more than 500 Mongolian primary and secondary schools which have admitted more than 300,000 students. According to our law, the Mongolian kindergartens, primary and secondary schools must use Mongolian as the language of teaching as well as teaching Chinese. The Inner Mongolian University has a special department on the Mongolian language. All the public media and the government websites have Mongolian versions. In 2018, 250,000 people have found their new jobs. China is a country with the rule of law. Everyone is equal before the law, and the Chinese judicial authorities strictly follow the law in handling criminal cases. The freedom of expression should not become a pretext for violating laws. We would like call upon those organizations to get their facts right, and abandon the practice of politicization and exerting pressures. I thank you.

The following is the Chinese Government delegation's response to SMHRIC statement at the Minority Forum (Chinese):

主席女士，刚才有关组织罔顾事实，出于不可告人的政治目的，对中国无端指责。中方对此坚决反对。有关组织发言与论坛讨论主题即少数群体妇女和女童的语言教育完全无关。中国政府高度重视民族教育工作。民族地区已全面普及从小学到初中九年义务教育。当前，内蒙古自治区已构建起从学前中小学到高等学校个阶段有效衔接，覆盖教师培养，教材建设，教学理念，教生升学，就业服务等各个环节。内蒙古全区有民族中小学500多所。接受蒙汉双语教育的人数超过30万。中国法律明确规定蒙古族幼儿园中小学校实施以蒙古语授课为主，加授汉语，或者以汉语为主加授蒙古语的双语教学。内蒙古大学设有蒙文专业。自治区政府，媒体等各主要网站设有蒙文版。2018年，内蒙古自治区新增就业25.92万人，完成年度计划104%。中国是法治国家。法律面前人人平等。中国司法机关严格依法办案。行使言论自由决不能成为违法犯罪的护身符。中方敦促有关组织尊重最起码的事实，摒弃将论坛政治化搞公开施压和对抗的做法。谢谢主席女士。