DHARAMSHALA, December 19: In continuing crackdown and arbitrary detention of Tibetans, Chinese authorities have arrested five monks from the Bora Monastery in Sangchu region of Kanlho, eastern Tibet.

The arrested monks have been identified as Gedun Gyatso, 47, Lobsang Phagpa, 34, Jamyang Soepa, 25, Jamyang Lodoe, and Jamyang Gyatso, both about 20.

Sonam, an exiled Tibetan told Phayul that the monks were detained from their Monastery quarters on December 3, a day after Sungdue Kyab’s self-immolation protest.

The monks were first summoned at the local Chinese government office for “interrogation,” following which they disappeared and since then no information on their wellbeing and whereabouts have been to given. Exact reasons for their arrests are not yet known.

On December 2, Sungdue Kyab, set himself ablaze on the main street in Bora town near the Bora Monastery in an apparent protest against China’s continued occupation of Tibet. Chinese security personnel arrived at the site of his protest, doused the flames and bundled him away.

Last heard, Sungdue Kyab is being kept in a heavily guarded Chinese hospital in Kanlho and has been denied any visits by his family members. There is at present no information on his condition.

Sungdue Kyab and his wife Dugkar Kyi have a son who is nearly two years old.

Earlier this year in March, more than 100 monks from the Bora Monastery marched to the local Chinese government office carrying Tibetan flags and pictures of the Dalai Lama and calling for freedom and the return of the Dalai Lama.

The next day, Chinese security officers in a midnight raid at the Monastery arrested 40 monks, prompting a gathering of a large number of monks calling for their immediate release.

The local security officials, fearing more protests, released all 40 monks a few hours later, but told the monks to make “personal statements” admitting that they have made a “mistake” which they will not repeat in future.

The Dharamshala based rights group Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy reported of “heavy security presence” in the entire Bora area and in particular Bora Monastery, which the group said, is “teeming with PAP officers and special armed police who have surrounded the monastery on all sides.”

“The armed security police conduct day and night patrol in the area,” TCHRD said. “Restrictions on communication channels such as Internet and mobile phone lines have been heightened for the past two months, posing continued problems in collecting timely information from the area.”