Dharamsala, 29 May – TCHRD received confirmed information that 18 Tibetan refugee detainees who were arrested in Nepal on 15 April 2003, now face the prospect of imminent deportation following Chinese embassy officials’ intervention in their release process. The Tibetan Refugee Reception Centre (TRRC) and Office of the Representative to H.H. the Dalai Lama, both based in Nepal, along with other supporters had generated a sufficient amount to pay for fines of the detainees. In Dilli Bazaar at 10a.m., this morning, representatives of these two offices began the paperwork for the detainees’ release, when two officials from the Embassy of People’s Republic of China in Nepal entered the office and insisted on deporting the Tibetan detainees to Tibet.
According to an eyewitness account, “With the help of the Office of the Representative to H. H. the Dalai Lama and the TRRC Nepal, the total sum amount was collected to secure the release of the Tibetan detainees. Just few hours into carrying out the necessary procedures, two Chinese officials escorted by six police officers from the Nepal Immigration Department, came to the Dilli Bazaar Jail. A bus was also brought along to take the Tibetans to Dram (Nepal-Tibet border) and then to hand them over to Chinese security personnel at the Tibetan border. When questioned, the Nepali police became passive and said ‘the orders have come from the Embassy’.
Reports affirm that resident Tibetans and Tibetan officials have been denied entry to the jail and the jail officials have been instructed not to talk to anyone. The dismayed Tibetan representatives have brought the issue to the attention of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Nepal. Nepal serves as the transit point for Tibetan refugees fleeing from Chinese persecution in Tibet to India. With the improved bilateral relations between the governments of China and Nepal in recent years, it has become all the more difficult for the Tibetan refugees to escape from Tibet to India via Nepal. Border surveillance has increased and detention cases have become a common phenomenon.
TCHRD is concerned by today’s unprecedented development whereby officials from the PRC embassy in Nepal have directly intervened in the asylum process by claiming jurisdiction over Tibetan refugees. Such a development might set precedence for deporting Tibetan refugees to Tibet. Furthermore, Chinese intervention in Nepali law and its due process is ungrounded and of dubious legality. TCHRD urges the Chinese officials as well as the concerned offices of Nepal to respect the well-established body of refugee law and to release the detained Tibetans.
As of now there are 29 Tibetan detainees languishing in Nepali jails for want of valid travel and residential permits. TCHRD is gravely concerned about the fate of those Tibetan detainees. If they were to be deported, they are certain to suffer severe consequences for having fled the country in the first place.
Please refer to the TCHRD Newsletter “Human Rights Update” April issue or log on to www.tchrd.org for related information.
Contact Persons: Norzin Dolma/ Tezin Norgay
Phone no: + 91 1892 223363/225874
E-mail: dsala@tchrd.org
