By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, August 19: A senior US State Department official is in Nepal on a 3-day visit that would, among others, focus on assessment of the international and Nepali government’s efforts to support Tibetan refugees residing in Nepal, a press release issued by the US embassy in Nepal said.
Mr Atul Keshap, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, arrived in Kathmandu on Tuesday.
This is Mr Keshap’s first visit to Nepal since becoming the Director of the Office of India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Maldives Affairs at the Department of State, where he manages foreign policy coordination for the six countries, the statement said.
During this familiarization tour, he will meet with government officials to discuss a range of bilateral issues.
He will also look at international and Nepali efforts to support Bhutanese and Tibetan refugees in Nepal, the press release said.
Atul’s visit follows Nepal’s deportation of three fleeing Tibetan refugees to Tibet recently.
In June Nepal handed over three Tibetan refugees over to Chinese authorities in Tibet, a move that sparked international condemnation.
The move left the UN refugee agency in Kathmandu feeling “extremely concerned”.
Two of the repatriated refugees – a young woman and a monk – are reportedly serving six-month prison terms in Tibet.
Nepal has traditionally given safe passage to fleeing Tibetan refugees under an informal agreement between the government and the UN refugee agency.
The “Gentlemen’s Agreement” between the government of Nepal and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), put in place in 1989, when Nepal stopped giving them refugee status, provides for the safe transit of Tibetan refugees through Nepalese territory and onward to India.
Nepal government has lately vowed to check “anti-China activities” to strengthen friendly ties with China, a major donor for the impoverished country.
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 border with Tibet following ‘Chinese pressure’.
In the past there there had been arrests of Tibetan refugees from various border districts of Nepal but they were ultimately handed over to the UN refugee agency after being kept in police custody for some time.
Over the last couple of years, under growing Chinese influence, Nepal has routinely tightened security along its border with Tibet, resulting in more arrests of fleeing Tibetan refugees.
Following the “massive” anti-China unrest in Tibet in 2008, China has been sending a flurry of high-level official delegations to Nepal to ensure it effectively curbs “Free-Tibet activities” on its soil. In return China promises to increase assistance to the crisis-ridden country.
