Four Tibetans arrested in Dolakha, may face deportation to China

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Nepalnews.com
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Tibetan exiles participate in a candle light vigil as they protest against Chinese government, at Baudhanath Stupa in Katmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Feb 14, 2010. Tibetans have decided against celebrating the Lunar New Year for a second year in remembrance of the suffering of people inside Tibet, the Dalai Lama said Sunday. (AP Photo/Binod Joshi)

Police on Saturday arrested four Tibetans while they were entering Nepal through the open Tibet-Nepal border in Dolakha district, according to media-reports.

The arrested Tibetans - one man and three women – did not possess travel documents, the police said. However, the identities of the arrested Tibetans haven’t been disclosed.

A Nepali national, Pushkar K.C, has also been arrested under suspicion of assisting the Tibetans to sneak into Nepali soil.

The arrested Tibetans have been sent to immigration department and now face either deportation to Tibet, imprisonment in the country or would be handed over to United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

Police had arrested five Tibetans, including a woman, from three Bouddha-based hotels in the Capital on Feb. 6.

Prior to that, 10 Tibetans were arrested by the police while they were entering Nepal illegally from Tibet via Lamabagar in Dolakha district on Jan 17.

Nepal is home to around 20,000 exiled Tibetans. They began arriving in large numbers after the Dalai Lama fled Tibet following a failed uprising in 1959.

Following pressure from Beijing, Nepal has tightened security along its border with Chinese autonomous region Tibet in an attempt to prevent influx of Tibetans in Nepal.

According to another report, on average 2,500 Tibetans flee to India via Nepal each year. Tibetan spiritual Guru heads a Tibetan government in exile in India’s hill station Dharmashala.

Thousands of Tibetan refugees had their hopes of asylum in the United States dashed with the Nepal government deciding not to issue them travel documents for fear of antagonizing China.

Nepal supports ‘One China’ principle according to which Tibet and Taiwan are inalienable part of China.

On Sep 30, 2006 a group of 70 unarmed Tibetans who were trying to flee China were shot at by the Chinese border control troops at Nangpa pass in the Himalayas.

The Nangpa pass is a commonly used escape route for those fleeing China to Nepal.