UNPO (Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization) is to host landmark conference on 19 September 2008 in Tallinn, Estonia, on population transfer from Baltic and Tibetan perspectives.
Date: 19 September 2008
Place: Estonian Academy of Sciences, Tallinn, Estonia
Topic: “Population Transfer: The Baltic States and the Tibetan Experience”
International experts and commentators will meet in Tallinn’s Estonian Academy of Sciences to discuss the effects of population transfer. With the support of the Institute for the Rights of People and the International Campaign on Tibet, UNPO hopes the event will bring together two communities who have been at the forefront of the population transfer debate.
The conference will hear from experts from the Tibetan Diaspora and the Baltic academic community, examining the commonalities and differences between the experiences of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania under the Soviet occupation; and Tibet, under the Chinese-administered Tibet. The event will see participation by Members of Estonian Parliament; Members of European Parliament; Members of the Italian Senate; academics from Estonian, Latvian, and British institutions; and more.
Over four panels, the conference will discuss:
• Historic parallels in population transfer policies in the Baltic states and Tibet
• Political contexts in which Soviet and Chinese population transfer policies operated and continue to operate
• International legal mechanisms concerning population transfer
• The future of international instruments to protect against adverse population transfer.
UNPO expects the event to bring together two communities, whose experiences highlight important considerations in the population transfer debate. In the current political atmosphere, there are few political issues more relevant and in need of discussion for the international community. Indeed, UNPO looks forward to an event that will bring together Estonia, a former UNPO member, and Tibet, a current member, in a dialogue that is stimulating, mutually rewarding, and mark the beginning of increased cooperation between these two communities.
