Kathmandu – Nepalese police have detained at least 18 Tibetans who crossed into Nepal, official media reported Tuesday. The Tibetans crossed into the northern area of the Gorkha district, about 170 kilometres north-west of Kathmandu, from Chyapti in Tibet, the state-owned, Nepali-language newspaper Gorkhapatra said.
All 18 Tibetan were on their way to India when they were detained by the police, but the newspaper did not say when they were detained.
Tibetans trying to escape persecution by Chinese authorities frequently cross into Nepal on their way to India.
Once in Nepal, a network of Tibetan organizations helps the refugees with shelter and food and helps get them over the border into India.
Those detained by Nepalese authorities are handed over to the United Nations, which in turn sends them to India, where the Tibetan government in exile and its spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, are based.
