The London-based International Campaign for Tibet has stated that a monk has died after setting himself alight in protest, at a monastery in South West China.

The monk, 18-year-old Nangdrol, has raised the number of Tibetans who have self immolated to at least 21 in the past year alone, as protests against the Chinese government’s control over the Tibetan regions continue to grow.

Chinese armed forces have cut off access to the Tibetan areas making independent reports almost impossible to verify, but it is known that security forces maintain a high presence in the area and monks are being forced to undergo “political re-education”.

The latest self immolation comes as reports emerged of high profile Tibetan writer,  Gangkye Drubpa Kyab being arrested by security forces on Saturday, as the Chinese government looks to crack down on the protests.

Earlier this week the Chinese Vic President Xi Jinping visited the US, where senior officials raised concerns regarding human rights in the country with Senator John McCain, the Republican party’s 2008 Presidential candidate discussing the growing wave of self-immolations.

See our earlier posts:

Twentieth Tibetan self-immolation reported (09 Feb 2012)

Clashes in Tibet after self-immolation (14 Jan 2012)

2 more Tibetans self immolate in China (09 Jan 2012)

Cultural genocide fans self-immolations – Dalai Lama (07 Nov 2011)