By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, August 19: The United States has called on Nepal to honour its commitment to allow free passage for Tibetan refugees to travel to India, Nepalese media reports said Thursday.
In his meeting with Home Minister Bhim Rawal on Wednesday, visiting US Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Atul Keshap expressed concern over the “violation of the gentlemen’s agreement,” the Kathmandu Post reported.
Keshap reminded Rawal of a UN-brokered agreement to allow fleeing Tibetans free passage to India’s Dharamshala through Nepal, government officials were quoted as saying.
This is not the first time that US officials have raised the issue of safe passage for Tibetans with Nepali officials, the report said, adding that a similar request was also made to Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala and Minister Rawal by US Deputy Under-Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration Kelly Clements during her visit to Nepal earlier in June.
The 1989 deal took the form of a gentlemen’s agreement and is not legally enforceable.
In June, Nepal deported three Tibetan refugees who had entered the northern Rasuwa district, saying they had no legal documents.
During talks with the US envoy, Rawal reportedly reiterated Nepal’s commitment to the “one-China” policy while admitting that the Nepal’s border with Chinese occupied Tibet remained “porous”.
“Tibetans cross the Nepal-China border and enter India without a visa. Then they come back to Nepal and champion the Tibetan cause,” the paper quoted Rawal as saying. “Can we allow such activities and let them demonstrate here?”
Nepal has put up new security posts along its northern border in recent months to prevent Tibetan refugees from entering Nepal.
In a press statement, the Nepalese Home Ministry said Keshap talked with Rawal the political and security situation in Nepal and promised additional US support for security and counter-terrorism efforts.
Following a bilateral security talks in Kathmandu last month, Nepal and China agreed to set up a joint mechanism to help share intelligence on “anti-China activities” in Nepal. A new aid package designed to help Nepal improve border security was also promised by China after the talks.
Nepal is home to some 20,000 Tibetan refugees.
Past estimates suggest between 2,500 and 3,000 Tibetans escape Tibet and enter Nepal each year on their way to the seat of Tibetan Government-in-Exile here in north India. The number has slowed down dramatically since 2008 after Nepal beefed up security along its northern border under Chinese pressure.
Tibetans continue to make risky journey across the dangerous Himalayan terrains into Nepal to escape harsh political situation under Chinese control.
Under Beijing’s influence and lack of stable government in the impoverished nation, rights groups say Tibetans refugees in Nepal are increasingly vulnerable and at risk of arrest and repatriation.
