Kathmandu: The UN refugee agency has
expressed concern over Nepal government's move to forcibly
repatriate three Tibetan refugees to China in early June this
year.
"The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is
extremely concerned over the forcible repatriation of three
Tibetan refugees," a UN official said today.
The UN refugee agency said it had written to the
Nepalese government regarding the incident.
Two of the refugees, a Buddhist monk and a young
woman, are serving jail sentence in Tibet after they were
detained in western Nepal and flown across the border to Tibet
with the help of Chinese security forces, according to
International Campaign for Tibet (ICT).
Nepal has violated the well-established 'Gentlemen's
Agreement' with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
and contravened its obligations under international law by
forcibly returning three Tibetan refugees to Chinese border
police in early June, said ICT.
Earlier in 2003, 18 Tibetans, including children, were
detained by Nepalese police and sent back to China triggering
international condemnation.
Every year some 2500 Tibetan nationals cross the
border and enter Nepalese territory on their way to
Dharamshala to meet their spiritual leader Dalai Lama.
China, one of the major donors to Nepal, has been
exerting pressure to curb free Tibetan activities for the past
few years.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, July 28, 2010, 23:20