EU says plight of unregistered Tibetans in Nepal a priority

The European Union has said Apr 29 that it has been urging Nepal, as a part of the Refugee Core Group in Nepal, to address the long-standing humanitarian challenges faced by Tibetan refugees in the country as many of them have continued to remain undocumented for decades. It has vowed to bring up the issue during the next annual EU-Nepal joint Commission planned to be held in the second half of this year.

This message was conveyed by the European External Acton Service – the diplomatic service in charge of executing all international relations of the European Union – in response to a Mar 3 letter from MEPs Dainius Zalimas and Hannes Heide, Co-Chairs of the Inter-parliamentary Group for Tibet in the European Parliament, addressed to EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic regarding the precarious status of Tibetan refugees in Nepal.

The EU has been pushing for the issuance of Personal Account Number (PAN) cards as an immediate measure to at least give the Tibetan refugees an identity that should enable them to open bank accounts, access the labour market, and manage daily administrative tasks.

Read more