Dharamsala, Feb 26: Nepal Police have arrested seven Tibetan nationals, including two women, who entered the country through Nepal-Tibet border at Tatopani and handed them over to the authorities in Kathmandu, according to a media report.
They were reportedly arrested after crossing the Nepal-Tibet border at Tatopani entry point in the east of Kathmandu on Tuesday.
“They were arrested after they were found to be traveling without valid documents,” PTI reported a police official at Sindhupalchowk District Police office as saying over the phone.
The police have handed them over to the authorities in Kathmandu and started further investigation in the matter.
This is the second time the Tibetans were arrested by Nepal Police within a week. On Sunday, five Tibetans were arrested from Fulping area of the same district while crossing the border illegally.
The arrests were made ahead of the 50th anniversary of the failed uprising by Tibetans.
Nepalese authorities have stepped security in its northern border to prevent possible anti- China demonstrations in Kathmandu in March as the Tibetans are planning to observe the first anniversary of Chinese crackdown in Lhasa last year.
The arrest also comes amid a visit to Kathmandu by the Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister, Liu Jieyi. Liu arrived in Kathmandu on Wednesday, coinciding with the Tibetan New Year. Media reports said his visit would be focused on preparing for PM Dahal’s China visit and strengthening the bilateral relations between the two countries.
Tibetan right groups say the arrest is nothing more than the usual appeasement policy of the Nepalese government to keep China happy.
Nepal had come under international criticism last year for its brutal treatment of Tibetan protesters apparently under pressure from China.
Every year, many Tibetans escape via Nepal to India.
Dharamsala-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said that there was a sharp decline in the number of Tibetan refugees arriving in India via Nepal since the March uprising of 2008. As against the usual figure of around 2000 refugees a year, only 627 Tibetans entered India in 2008, the centre said, adding that majority of them had reached India in the year prior to the March uprising.
