Kathmandu: Nepal forcibly repatriated a
Tibetan refugee after he escaped from China, a Tibetan exile
group said on Thursday, more than one year after a similar
claim sparked international condemnation.
The refugee, a 20-year-old known as Tashi, crossed into
western Nepal with five other Tibetans in September but was
separated from them en route to Kathmandu, according to the
International Campaign for Tibet (ICT).
"Tashi had been detained by Nepalese police after
crossing the border and handed over to their Chinese
counterparts on the Tibet side," the group, citing unnamed
sources, said.
It added that it believed he was now being held in the
Tibetan capital Lhasa.
When the last deportation was reported in June 2010, the
United Nations refugee agency in Kathmandu had said it was
"extremely concerned" by the move.
Hundreds of Tibetans make the difficult and dangerous
journey to Nepal every year, fleeing political and religious
repression in China, though their numbers have fallen sharply
in the past few years.
Under an informal agreement between Nepal and the UN
they have previously been given safe passage to India where
the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama lives in
exile.
But US embassy cables released by whistle-blowing website
WikiLeaks last year suggested that China paid Nepalese police
to detain Tibetans as they crossed the border.
Nepal, home to 20,000 Tibetan exiles, is under pressure
from Beijing to stem the flow of Tibetans fleeing their
homeland.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, November 24, 2011, 22:56