Successful commemoration protest for Lobga Rangzen on Dam Square

A large turnout of Tibetans and supporters to commemorate Lobga Rangzen — and to condemn China’s continuing destruction of the Tibetan people

8 July 2026 — Tibet Support Group Netherlands

Around 250 Tibetans and supporters gathered on Tuesday 7 July on Dam Square in Amsterdam for a commemoration protest for Lobga Rangzen, the Tibetan activist who set himself on fire on 2 July outside the headquarters of the United Nations in New York and died a short time later from his injuries. From 9.45 to 14.00 there was mourning, prayer, and protest — in the heart of Amsterdam, five days after his death.

Tibetans pray at the memorial for Lobga Rangzen — with portraits of the activist and a banner against China’s Ethnic Unity Law.

The radiant summer morning stood in stark contrast to the grief and anger that were palpable on the square. In his final message, Rangzen not only voiced his despair at China’s relentless erasure of his culture, but also addressed the United Nations, the European Union, and governments worldwide, who through inaction and empty words betray their own core values of freedom and democracy. It was that twofold indictment that carried the gathering: grief for one man, and resistance against the indifference that helped make his death possible.

The gathering took the place of the celebration of the Dalai Lama’s 91st birthday, which the Tibetan community cancelled after the news from New York. Instead of a celebration it became a dignified farewell — and a pledge that Rangzen’s appeal would not go unheard.

Participants with the banner “China is killing Tibet” on Dam Square.

Oppressed peoples side by side

Notable was the presence of representatives of other communities suffering under Chinese oppression. Speakers from the Uyghur, Southern Mongolian, and Hong Kong communities expressed their condolences and solidarity with the Tibetans. Their message was unanimous: what is happening to the Tibetan people — the language taken from the classrooms, the children sent to state boarding schools, faith placed under state supervision — is the same policy that afflicts their peoples too. China’s new Law on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress now codifies that forced assimilation in law for all these peoples.

Oppressed peoples side by side: alongside Tibetan flags flies the flag of East Turkestan — the Uyghur, Southern Mongolian, and Hong Kong communities joined the protest.

The atmosphere during the protest was, despite everything, positive and peaceful. On a large video screen, texts were shown continuously that confronted the public on Dam Square with the facts: 159 self-immolations since 2009, a law that forbids a people from being themselves, and the question the Netherlands can no longer avoid — when does silence turn into complicity?

Despite the grief, the mood was dignified and resolute — a participant wrapped in the Tibetan flag.

Three benchmarks for Minister Sjoerdsma

This very week — while mourning took place on Dam Square — Minister Sjoerdsma for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation is leading a trade mission to China. Tibet Support Group Netherlands therefore makes the following open appeal to the minister and will judge his mission against the following three benchmarks below:

On the video screen: “Minister Sjoerdsma, you are in China now — Trading with China in silence is profiting from oppression.” Beside it the banner “United Against Tyranny”, with which Uyghurs, Southern Mongolians, and others stand behind Tibet.

Minister Sjoerdsma,

While you are in China this week, we stand on Dam Square in Amsterdam — in memory of Lobga Rangzen, who on 2 July gave his life outside the headquarters of the United Nations, out of despair at the destruction of the Tibetan language, culture, and identity.

You know better than anyone what it means to be punished by China for speaking the truth. For years you were on the Chinese sanctions list, because you called the treatment of the Uyghurs genocide — and the House of Representatives followed you. We now ask you to show that same courage for Tibet.

We judge your mission on three points:

1. Will you publicly name the Law on the Promotion of Ethnic Unity and Progress — and the forced assimilation of Tibetans, Uyghurs, and other peoples that this law codifies?
2. Will you speak the name of Lobga Rangzen in China — and the despair of the Tibetan people, in Tibet and in exile, that his death stands for?
3. Will you afterwards publicly account to the House of Representatives for what you raised and what it achieved — verifiable, rather than yet more invisible “quiet diplomacy”?

After 9 July we will publish the outcome.

Fifty years of quiet diplomacy has brought Tibet nothing. You are now in the room we cannot enter. Speak — on behalf, too, of those who paid the highest price for speaking.

Around 250 people gathered on Dam Square — with Tibetan flags and portraits of Lobga Rangzen.

The commemoration protest was organised by the Tibetan Community Foundation Netherlands, Students for a Free Tibet The Netherlands, Tibet Support Group Netherlands, and International Campaign for Tibet.

Lobga Rangzen asked the world to stop looking away. On Tuesday, Dam Square did not look away. Now it is up to The Hague.

Tibet Support Group Netherlands works for the rights, culture, and political representation of the Tibetan people.