WRITTEN QUESTION E-2050/02

by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission

(10 July 2002)

Subject: Tibetans arrested in Nepal

According to the Nepalese Immigration Department, twelve Tibetans (including Choeyang Dorje, 30 years of age, Palden Gyatso, 32, Tenzin Yangzom and her four-month-old baby, and the monks Sonam Lama and Sechya Lama) are being held in Dili Bazaar prison, and a thirteenth Tibetan (the monk Heruka) in the Khar prison in Kathmandu, where he is apparently serving a ten-year sentence for being in Nepal illegally.

It would appear that these arrests are due to the fact that the unwritten arrangement between the Nepalese Government and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees guarantees safe transit through Nepal to India for Tibetans leaving China, but does not apply to Tibetans travelling in the opposite direction, i.e. wishing to return to Tibet. The ban affects some 3 000 Tibetans who wish to travel back to Tibet, having completed their studies in India.

The 13 detainees face fines ranging from USD 1 584 to USD 2 666. They could avoid prison if they paid the fines. However, the amounts of these fines, which are far in excess of the money normally available to the detainees, quite clearly reflect a hardening of the attitude of the Nepalese authorities.

Is the Commission aware of these arrests and of the Nepalese authorities' decision to deal in this way with the situation of Tibetan exiles travelling through Nepal on their way back to Chinese-occupied Tibet?

If so, what steps has the Commission taken to help the 13 Tibetans out of prison and, more generally, to ensure that no further action is taken to prevent Tibetans from travelling through Nepal?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(2 August 2002)

The Commission is pleased to inform the Honourable Member of the results of his question concerning the arrest and detention of Tibetans travelling through Nepal.

On 12 July 2002 the EU Heads of Missions in Kathmandu informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (the Joint Secretary, Mr Gyan Chandra Acharya) of their concern at the treatment of Tibetans travelling through Nepal en route to Tibet from India.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the Heads of Missions that an ad hoc inter-departmental committee had been set up with a view to finding a satisfactory solution quickly.

Meanwhile, similar representations were made to the Prime Minister, Mr Sher Bahador Deuba, by the United States.

Contact between the Commission and the local office of the UNHCR have confirmed the existence of an unwritten arrangement whereby Tibetans transiting Nepal en route to India are given the status of person of concern. This arrangement does not apply to Tibetans returning from India, as it is impossible for the UNHCR to negotiate the procedures for the return of Tibetans to Tibet with the three countries concerned (India, Nepal and China).

The Commission is ready to support any further initiative to facilitate a more flexible approach by the Nepalese authorities which complies with local laws on the basis of humanitarian considerations and respect for human rights.

The Commission Delegation and representatives of Member States on the spot are closely following this case in the hope of an equitable decision by the Government.

The Honourable Member will be informed as soon as possible of further developments.