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Tibetan refugees have lived for 50 years in Nepal. Although not really treated as equal citizens but rather with limited civil rights, the Tibetans had nevertheless enjoyed peace and security in Nepal until recently.
After the violent protests by Tibetans in occupied homeland Tibet, the Chinese use their growing economic and political power to put pressure on Nepal regarding the issue of Tibetan refugees in Nepal. The TV Network Al Jazeera reported from Kathmandu in 2009.
Tibetan Refugees in Nepal under Chinese Pressure
China's Oppressive Policy towards the Tibet Issue
When the Olympic committee awarded the summer games of 2008 to China, hopes were expressed by IOC delegates that the selection will encourage more democratic reforms and respect for human rights and serious talks about more autonomy of the Tibetans and other "ethnic minorities" (This is the official Chinese language.) in China. These hopes have turned out to be a silly illusion. With the Tibetan uprising in spring of 2008, China's Communist regime showed the whole world once again its real nature.
Cultural Genocide in Tibet
The Chinese policy towards Tibet has not changed in any way since the proclamation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 by Mao Zedong. Since then the Chinese government has never had the serious will for real autonomy in Tibet. Instead, Communist China has exerted a policy of wiping out the Tibetan identity and culture down to some remnants of folkloristic tourist entertainment.
Tibetan Uprising in 2008
The uprisings in Tibet in spring of 2008 have again demonstrated to the world the real character of the Chinese Communist regime. Whether in Tiananmen square or in Lhasa, any resistance is met with brutal oppression, internment, killings and torture. This has been the case since the foundation of Communist China, and currently there are not the slightest indications of hopes for real political reforms in China. On the contrary, the situation is becoming worse.
China's Pressure on Nepal and other Nations
China is more and more using its growing economic and political power to exert pressure on neighboring countries like Nepal with direct impact on the roughly 80,000 thousand Tibetan refugees in Nepal. Nepal has become an easy victim to China's pressure. Years of civil war, the rise of the so-called Maoists in Nepal and the recent dwindling of a functioning state authority has weakened the country.
Killings of Tibetans Trying to Flee the Country
The flux of Tibetan refugees over the Himalayan mountains has never really ceased over the years. There have been witnessed shootings and merciless killings of Tibetans trying to cross the border to Nepal. One incident has been covered by coincidence by a Western mountaineering group. They became witness how a group of Tibetan women, children and men were trying to cross the snow-capped mountains and how they came under rifle fire by Chinese border guards. At least one person, a young nun was killed.
Forced Repatriations of Tibetans
In the past the attitude of Nepal towards the Tibetan refugees was characterized by a humanitarian approach. But now the Nepalese policy has recently made a 180 degree turn.
Apart from the harrassments of the Tibetan community by Nepalese police and authorities, the most alarming latest news are cases of Tibetans refugees who were sent back to Communist China where they have to expect long year sentences, beatings and torture. In early June of 2010 Nepal has forcibly handed over three fleeing Tibetan refugees to Chinese authorities.
For a full report on this incident, see Nepal's repatriation of 3 Tibetans leaves UN ‘concerned’.
More References
Tibetans Fear Loss of a Safe Haven in Nepal - by the New York Times.
Dieter Wanczura, August 2010.
