Nepal arrests 20 Tibetan teens crossing from China

Monday, September 12, 2011

AFP

KATHMANDU, Nepal -- Nepal has detained 20 Tibetan teenagers for entering the country illegally from China, police said Monday, weeks after the government assured Beijing that it would crack down on anti-China activity.

The 15 boys and five girls, aged 16 to 18, were held at a remote western Himalayan village after crossing into Nepal on foot from China.

"They were arrested by the local police on Sunday morning. They had trekked for 16 days," police spokesman Binod Singh told AFP.

"A police official is accompanying them to Kathmandu. They will be handed over to the immigration authorities."

They are expected to be given safe passage through Nepal under an informal agreement with the UN, which will help them to travel on to India, where the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama lives in exile.

Hundreds of Tibetans make the difficult and dangerous journey to Nepal every year, fleeing political and religious repression in China.

Nepal last month renewed its commitment not to allow "anti-Chinese activities" on its soil as a visiting top-level Chinese delegation announced a $50-million aid package for the impoverished nation.

Beijing, a major donor to Nepal, has increased pressure on authorities in its neighbour to stem the flow of Tibetans fleeing their homeland.

US embassy cables released by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks last year suggested that China had paid Nepalese police to detain Tibetans.

Nepal, home to 20,000 Tibetan exiles who were given refugee status before 1989, denied the accusation.