The United States takes “seriously” the forced return by Nepal of Tibetans escaping their homeland to seek asylum outside China and is regularly discussing this issue with senior Nepalese officials, a State Department spokesman told RFA this week. “[We] continue to urge Nepal to follow procedures that are fully consistent with its domestic laws and international commitments, including upholding Nepal’s non-refoulement obligations,” the State Department said, referring to the practice of forcing refugees back to the states from which they fled.
Nepal shares a long border with Tibet and is home to around 20,000 exiles who began arriving in 1959 when a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule forced Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama into exile in Dharamsala in India’s Himalayan foothills.
Under pressure from China, however, the government of Nepal over the last decade has tightened controls over its border with Tibet, discouraging escapes by Tibetans and sometimes returning Tibetan refugees by force to face abuse at the hands of Chinese authorities.
