By Dr. Riffat Hossain Lucy
The status of the Tibetans refugees in Nepal is a long standing issue that is often raised in Katmandu. Tibetans in Nepal are virtually stateless. The fact is that the Tibetans residing in Nepal have no legal status. Nepalese law does not recognise the rights to refugees under international law. Tibetans who arrived before 1989 can remain in Nepal with certain limited rights provided that they have refugee identity certificates.
The influx of Tibetan refugees into the neighbouring Nepal began rising nearly 50 years ago, when the communist came into power in Beijing and began asserting Chinese control over the region, though the process was considered as an illegal annexation by most of the Tibetans. For years the small kingdom of Nepal in the Himalayan Mountains has been the gateway to freedom for Tibetans fleeing Chinese communist rule in their homeland.
During my recent visit to Nepal, supported by the International Organisation of Migration (IOM), the South Asia Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR) arranged a visit to Pokhara, which is situated at 200 kilometer west of Katmandu. Pokhara means “land of lakes”, is a beautiful hilly area situated at an altitude of 827 meter from the sea and is of about eight hours drive from Katmandu, has several beautiful lakes offering an eye-catching view of Himalayan peaks.
The refugees in the Tibetan refugee camp in Pokhara named Tashi Palkhiel Tibetan Refugee Camp were excited to find the visitors from different countries among them. The total 29 participants from 8 countries working for human rights were in the list to visit the old Tibetan Refugee camp. Many refugees spoke to the participants regarding the refugee status and valid identification.
Most of the Tibetan refugees lucky enough to have escaped across the borders into Nepal live in a settlement in Katmandu’ Budhanath district (around 12,000 refugees) and the remainder in Pokhara (about 3000), Baglung (about 300), Mustang (about 150), Taplejung (about 200), Manang (about 300), Rasuwa (about 300), Solukhumbu and Lalitpur.
Virtually, Nepal is now the home of officially around 18,000 Tibetan refugees (unofficially more than 20,000), who are known to first fled to Nepal in 1959, the year when Tibet’s spiritual leader Dalai Lama fled to Dharmasala, India. Most of them are actually children and grandchildren of the refugees. In 1960 Nepalese government arrange to provide Tibetan refugees with land. They established four temporary settlements. Dhialsa in Solu Khumba Mountain, Dhorpatan in western Nepal, Jawalakhel in Katmandu and Tashi Palkhiel in Pokhara. As the Tibetans have no right to buy property, Nepal Red Cross (NRC) purchased the land by donations from UNHCR.
There are four Tibetan refugee camps in Pokhara, and the one visited by us, Tashi Palkhiel Tibetan Refugee Camp was established in 1962 in cooperation with the Swiss development Corporation and His Majesty’s government of Nepal. There are about 1000 refugees in the camp with facilities of a school, old age home and a beautiful monastery. The camp in Pokhara looks like a small Tibet.
Refugees are not allowed to dabble in political activities or do business outside of their area, though some are working outside mainly in Katmandu having valid ID card issued before 1989. The rest who came after the time cannot assimilate and find secure employment without formal legal standing in Nepal. Tibetan refugees have no right to own property or business, cannot own houses, vehicles, land and other property in Nepal. Legal and social discrimination severely curtail their ability to secure employment. They are not permitted to acquire residential and other legal documents, still the displaced Tibetan nationals experienced harassment, extortion and deportation lack of valid evidence. Tibetan refugees cannot travel to certain restricted regions of Nepal, and it is difficult to get the travel document for crossing international borders. The government issued refugee cards (RC) in 1995 and in a small scale in 1999. The issuance of RCs remains incomplete and without it the refugees cannot exercise the limited rights they possess. According to UNHCR’s global guidelines, any refugee claimant may appeal a negative decision concerning refugee status. Though the UNHCR must inform the claimant why his/her application has been rejected, the claimants were not given any reasons for why their applications were refused. Nearly 300 newly arrived Tibetan refugees were handed back to the Chinese authorities by the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) in several occasions. Though the Nepalese law in theory permits naturalisation but the government does not view citizenship as a viable options for the Tibetans even though they have resided in Nepal for decades. In recent years, refugees have come at a rate averaging eight person per day. The new arrivals are fed and housed on at a transit camp in Katmandu run by the administration of Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. To get to Nepal the refugees have to pass through the snow covered Himalayans, the world’s highest mountain range. Lot of the fleeing people becomes easy prey of the snow and freeze to death.
Some of the teen Tibetans were forcibly removed from Honuman Dhoka jail by the Nepalese and Chinese officials on May, 2003. And this deportation was implemented despite strong international lobbying in support of the Tibetans over few days and high level interest. Sometimes Nepalese security guards demand bribes of refugees caught at the border, threatening to hand them over to Chinese authorities. Even sometimes the refugees were given prison sentences ranging from 7 to 10 months as they were not able to pay the fines. Invariably the refugees in the prison are denied access to the doctor, even sent by the Nepalese. The actions taken against the Tibetan refugees not only violates international norms and practices regarding the humane treatment of asylum seekers and refugees, but also puts a big question mark on Nepal’s long standing reputation as a peace loving country with tolerance and hospitality.
Tibetans residing in Nepal brought with them the traditional art of making carpets and beaded jewelries. Their main earning is from the wool woven carpet and thread, bead and stone jewelries. Though only by the carpets Nepal earn US$ 170 million per year, but it does not bring good cash for the refugees due to lack of marketing and high costing price and the traditional jewelries are not enough for living. And as the market of carpets has fallen down recently, many refugees from this camp go to city and work for the whole day.
The traumatised displaced refugees, particularly the women are in a condition let down by fear, afraid to trust, as well as, afraid to dream. Once popularly known as a peaceful country and a peace-loving zone in the region, Nepal, has to thrive for justice towards the Tibetan refugees and establish human rights.
The 54th ” Human Rights Day” on 10th December 2002 being celebrated in the memory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, 1948) was celebrated in Nepal with a slogan, “Human Rights for Peace”. We, the human right activists, from all the corners of the world, hope that the days are not so far when Nepal will again be an example of a peace-loving country and will celebrate in the near future the “Human Rights Day” with an wonderful blend of peace and human rights.
