China will not allow foreign observers into restive Tibet to probe human rights abuses, an official said yesterday, dismissing mounting international pressure for an independent investigation in the troubled mountainous region.

Some 68 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since March 2011 in protest against Chinese rule over Tibetan regions. At least 56 have died, according to Tibetan rights groups.

At least eight of the self-immolations had been reported in the Tibet Autonomous Region, a province-level administrative area under the central government. The rest occurred in Tibetan-populated areas of other provinces in southwestern China.

The UN’s most senior human rights official, Navi Pillay, urged China to allow independent human rights monitors to visit Tibet.