Tibetan Immolations Reach 30

“A farmer became the 30th Tibetan to self-immolate in protest over Chinese rule on Saturday [17 March 2012] as he set himself ablaze and died in northwestern Qinghai province, drawing several thousand Tibetans to his funeral.

Sonam Thargyal drank kerosene and poured the fuel over his cotton-padded body before setting himself alight, dying minutes later as his body was swiftly consumed by the flames, local Tibetan sources and an exile group with contacts in the region said. He was 44.

The self-immolation occurred early Saturday [17 March 2012] at the main road near the Gangri Hotel and Thume Cultural Center in Qinghai’s Rebkong (in Chinese, Tongren) county in Malho (in Chinese, Huangnan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

This is the second self-immolation in three days in Rebkong…

from UNPO

Australia is requesting permission for its Ambassador to China to visit the Tibetan areas “to see for herself the grievances” which have driven so many to such drastic protests.

Campaign for Tibet keeps an updated fact sheet on those who have died.