By Kalsang Rinchen
Gangtok, June 3 –Nepali police have arrested ten Tibetans Wednesday in Nepal’s Dolakha District, Nepalese media reported.
Nepal News reported that the Chinese Ambassador “Qiu Guohang accompanied by the Military Attaché of his Embassy in Kathmandu rushed to the district of Dolakha when they were informed that some ten Tibetans have been arrested by Nepal Police in Chartikot.” However, a report by Kantipur Online about the Tibetans’ arrest has not mentioned a word about the ambassador visiting the district. In the past, there have been frequent arrests of Tibetans entering Nepal “illegally” but has never prompted any visits by Chinese Ambassador. Nepal News has sourced the information to unspecified “reports” which claimed that “They (The Chinese) requested local administration there to either handover the illegal migrants to the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu or force them back to Tibet”. A Tibetan, on condition of anonymity, said that the visit by Chinese ambassador could most likely be untrue. “I don’t think the Chinese ambassador would take the trouble of travelling to the border for the arrest of Tibetans which is something very usual now. I think that’s not true.”
It is also reported that Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs has already sent orders to the district administration to force the illegal migrants to their home country-Tibet, according to Nepal News. Citing the District Police Office, Kantipur Online however reported that the Tibetans “will be sent to the Immigration Department in Kathmandu for further investigation.”
The Tibetans, 7 men and 3 women, had entered Nepal through Lamabagar entry point where they were nabbed by Satdobato Police Post in Chartikot. “After five days of rigorous walking from Lamabagar they had arrived at Singati, from where they took a public vehicle,” Nepal News quoted Hemanta Thapa, Police Inspector at the District Police office as saying.
Nepal News last year published a news report alleging Buddhist monasteries in Nepal of engaging in “anti China activities” and “possessing arms”. The Nepal Buddhist Federation reacted saying such “baseless” stories are bound to create communal discord within the country, and urged the Nepali media to be fair in performing their journalistic duties based on facts.
Every year, many Tibetans escape via Nepal to India, often after undertaking risky journey across the harsh terrains of the Himalayas. Statistics reveal that approximately a third are children who are sent to study in Tibetan exile schools in India. Several monks and nuns travel to India to seek religious education, which the Tibetans say, is made difficult in Tibet due to restrictions placed on monasteries and nunneries by the Chinese Communist government.
Past estimates suggest between 2,500 and 3,000 Tibetans escape Tibet and enter Nepal each year on their way to Dharamsala, the seat of Tibetan Government-in-Exile in north India. The number has slowed down dramatically since 2008 after Nepal beefed up security along its border with Tibet following ‘Chinese pressure’.
Recently Nepal announced its decision to tighten Tibet border by deploying armed police for the first time along its northern Mustang-Tibet border, raising criticism that the move was prompted by pressure from China.
Following the “massive” anti-China unrest in Tibet in 2008, China has been sending a flurry of high-level official delegations to Nepal to ensure it effectively curbs “Free-Tibet activities” on its soil. In return China promises to increase assistance to the crisis-ridden country.
Tibetans exiles in Nepal in 2008 staged some of the most dramatic and sustained demonstrations in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, targeting the Chinese embassy, its visa office and the United Nations after unrest against Chinese rule in Tibet faced Chinese military crackdown.
