Namkyi is an exiled Tibetan activist and former political prisoner.
In October of 2015, at the age of 15, Namkyi was arrested by Chinese authorities while protesting against the regime’s oppression of Tibetans. She was then held without trial in a detention center for the next thirteen months, often facing physical and mental torture. At Namkyi’s sham trial in November of 2016, she was sentenced to three years imprisonment on the trumped-up charge of undertaking “separatist acts against the nation.”
For the first three months of Namkyi’s sentence, she was forced to receive a “patriotic education” and to learn the Chinese constitution. Despite not knowing how to speak Mandarin Chinese, she then underwent an oral test covering numerous Chinese documents. After the three months, Namkyi was forced into a labor camp where she faced malnutrition coupled with inadequate access to winter necessities. Namkyi was also subjected to more discrimination for her Tibetan identity.
In October of 2018, after being released from prison, Namkyi’s expressions and movement continued to be severely restricted, putting anyone she was in contact with at risk. The Chinese government also harassed Namkyi’s family. In 2023, Namkyi and her aunt escaped the country by walking continuously for 10 days, crossing into Nepal and eventually reaching refuge in Dharamshala, India, where she now studies.
