Kathmandu, January 22 – Nepalese police today detained 41 Tibetans for illegal entry into the country, a police official said.
The group was detained at the Thankot police checkpoint outside Kathmandu, after travelling from Bhairahawa, 282km southwest of the capital, said the official on condition of anonymity.
“All of them were handed over to the immigration department in Kathmandu this afternoon,” he said. Immigration officials were not available for comment.
More than 2500 Tibetan refugees enter Nepal illegally annually in an attempt to reach India, according to Human Rights Watch.
The Nepal Government in January last year shut down the Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office in Kathmandu, saying it was unregistered. The office was operated by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet in 1959 during a failed uprising against China’s rule.
