A new report by ICT, Dangerous Crossing, reveals that dangers for Tibetans escaping from Tibet into exile through Nepal, and those resident in Nepal, have intensified over the past year, as Beijing strengthens its relations with Nepal and the Maoist insurgency and political turmoil in Nepal continues.
Dangerous Crossing, which is based on interviews in the field in Nepal and India and monitoring of the socio-economic and political situation in Tibet, reports further incidents of refoulement of Tibetans in 2004-5, particularly from the border areas of Nepal, and abuse and harassment of Tibetans arriving in Nepal by Nepalese police and armed forces, including theft and beatings.
Dangerous Crossing, which is available from ICT’s website here, concludes that Beijing has taken advantage of the turmoil created by the insurgency and conflicts within the Nepalese government to exert an increasing political influence on Nepal. Tibetans escaping from Tibet and those resident in Nepal have been increasingly at risk since the seizure of power by King Gyenandra, who is known to be close to Beijing, in Nepal in February. The offices of the representative of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Refugees Welfare Office in Kathmandu, crucial to the welfare of Tibetans in Nepal, received closure notices from the Nepalese government earlier this year, largely due to China’s influence on the Nepalese authorities, and the situation remains unresolved.
Under the so-called ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’, Nepal allows the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to facilitate the transit of approximately 2,500 Tibetans a year who flee from Tibet into India. This agreement states that the Nepalese police should escort Tibetan new arrivals to Kathmandu for processing by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. But the unsettled and dangerous situation created by the clash of Maoists and factions of the Nepalese army and police have sometimes kept border police close to their stations – making the scenario of turning over Tibetans to Chinese border guards a more convenient option. Chinese border guards have cultivated cooperative relationships with Nepalese border police in order to facilitate the return of Tibetans. There is increasing evidence that some Tibetans are by-passing the Tibetan Refugee Reception Center in Kathmandu in their escape into exile because of the increasingly insecure situation for Tibetans who arrive there.
More than a third of the new arrivals in 2004 were children under 14, who have often been sent into exile by their parents who feel that it is their only chance for an education or a better life. Most of the adult Tibetans who arrive in Nepal are monks and nuns, seeking a religious education that is not possible in Tibet due to the restrictions imposed by the Chinese state. Others leave because they have been unable to find work due to competition from Chinese migrants, or have been relocated from their land to make way for development projects and urbanization in Tibetan areas under China’s campaign to develop the Western regions of the PRC, including Tibet. Many Tibetans leave Tibet with the aim of simply seeing their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama for the first time.
The complex and insecure situation for Tibetans in Nepal, both those resident in Nepal and those in transit, is in a context of continued conflict in the kingdom, which is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world.
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Kate Saunders
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email: kates@savetibet.org
For information about the Dalai Lama’s visit to Washington DC in November see www.dalailamadc.org
