THOUSANDS of Tibetans are being systematically expelled from Lhasa as Chinese authorities demolish entire neighbourhoods in an ongoing campaign to eradicate Tibetan culture, an international housing organisation claims. ''Lhasa has been fabricated into a Chinese city,'' concludes a 200-page report from the Dutch-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions. Only two per cent of the historic homes in Tibet's ancient capital have survived the onslaught, says Scott Leckie, a housing and human rights specialist who wrote the new report, Destruction by Design: Housing Rights Violations in Tibet. The study, another scathing indictment of China's treatment of Tibet, appears to be timed to capitalise on heightened international concern over alleged human rights violations in the mountainous state. China this month blocked consideration of a human rights resolution by the United Nation's Human Rights Commission, prompting a new call for action from the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama. Marking the 35th anniversary of the failed 1959 Tibetan revolt against imposed Chinese rule, the Dalai Lama declared his frustration with long-stalled talks over the continuing Tibetan troubles. He indicated a change of course might be required, perhaps even a fight for independence. Mr Leckie, interviewed by telephone while in Geneva for the UN session, conceded the report's release might seem ''well-timed'', but said it was coincidental rather than strategic. Mr Leckie said the report was the largest compiled on any single country by the centre and its first on Tibet. The two-year study was partly funded by the European Human Rights Commission. While little fresh ground was broken by the report, the comprehensive document brings renewed international scrutiny to the charges of ''cultural genocide'' raised repeatedly by the Dalai Lama and numerous human rights groups. The allegations come at a time when the United States is pressuring China to improve its human rights record in negotiations over Most Favoured Nation trading status. The report attacks Chinese leaders in Tibet for an urban renewal scheme that targets the area's architectural treasures and favours Chinese migrants, who receive the best housing and jobs. At least 5,000 Tibetans have been forced out of their homes in Lhasa since 1989 and a further 10,000 buildings face the threat of demolition, Mr Leckie said. In 1950, before China's People's Liberation Army moved into Lhasa, the entire city had a Tibetan character which has now been destroyed. The report calls on China to halt the urban demolition, stop construction of newer Chinese-style quarters and aid the reconstruction of traditional Tibetan homes. The report accuses China of adopting a strategy of architectural and cultural assimilation. ''The picture is clear,'' said Mr Leckie. ''Only Tibetan structures are targeted. And the city plan talks about making Lhasa more suitable for Chinese inhabitants.'' Mr Leckie refers to the 1980 Lhasa Development Plan, adopted in Beijing in 1984, but only smuggled out of Tibet in 1990. ''City planners have interpreted the plan to mean that nearly all historic Tibetan buildings in Lhasa will be demolished before the year 2000,'' said Mr Leckie. ''If you look at the 1980 plan and the de facto situation since then, you can see the plan is being carried out very rapidly. In 1990 alone, 10 per cent of Tibetan homes in Lhasa were demolished.'' Last year many old homes near the central Barkor market area were razed and replaced by modern buildings. Rents in the new buildings reportedly rose by 700 to 800 per cent, according to the London-based Tibet Information Network. The new occupants were mainly Chinese. Mr Leckie said Tibetans are also poorly treated during relocation, and often were given no recompense. ''We compared the situation in Lhasa and several Chinese cities,'' he said. ''In Tibet, the replacement housing being offered was less than half the space that was given elsewhere in China.'' The network's director, Robbie Barnett, praised the report for its measured and analytical approach that equated housing with human rights. ''Nobody has ever done such a detailed study comparing the housing treatment of Tibetans with residents of other parts of China,'' he said. ''There seems to be two sets of rules and a discriminatory pattern revealed by the report. That is the kind of human rights violation that should interest both America and the UN.'' Mr Leckie said this style of ''racial discrimination'' violated international agreements made by China. Most recently, he noted, China supported a housing rights resolution adopted by the UN Commission on Human Rights on February 25.