TIBETAN REFUGEE UPDATE: ASYLUM REQUEST, PUBLIC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 001245

SIPDIS

GENEVA FOR RMA
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL
BEIJING PASS CHENGDU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/24/2012
TAGS: PREF PREL ECPS PROP PHUM NP CH
SUBJECT: TIBETAN REFUGEE UPDATE: ASYLUM REQUEST, PUBLIC
GATHERINGS, DECLINE IN TRANSIT NUMBERS, BORDER VISIT

REF: A. KATHMANDU 976


B. KATHMANDU 497

C. KATHMANDU 411

D. 01 KATHMANDU 1840

E. 01 KATHMANDU 1768

F. 01 KATHMANDU 1175

G. 01 KATHMANDU 616

Classified By: DCM Robert K. Boggs, Reasons 1.5 (b),(d).


1. (C) Summary. A group of Tibetan refugees arrested by
Nepalese authorities in transit to Tibet from India seek a
royal amnesty on the King's upcoming birthday, July 7.
UNHCR, Post and other diplomatic missions are encouraging the
GON to grant the requests. At the urging of UNHCR, Nepal
released an unaccompanied minor child jailed for two months
after entering Nepal from Tibet. Two other undocumented
Tibetan refugees remain jailed in Kathmandu. A Tibetan
community gathering was held on private property June 5, but
police shut down an April 28 cultural program at a public
venue to celebrate the birthday of Dharamsala's Panchen Lama.


2. (C) Summary, con't: The UNHCR Representative in Kathmandu
briefed visiting officers from the U.S. Mission in China on
the continued decline in numbers of Tibetan refugee arrivals.
Both UNHCR and sources at the Tibetan Reception Center
attributed the drop to greater ease in obtaining Chinese
passports, possible tighter Chinese control of travelers, and
the pull-back of Nepal's security forces from border areas,
which allows Tibetans to slip across more easily. Seeing the
Dalai Lama and pursuing studies in India continue to be the
most popular reasons for traveling to India. Poloff visited
the Nepalese immigration post at Kodari June 11 to discuss
their treatment of Tibetan refugees. End Summary.

Jailed Tibetans Still Seeking Amnesty
--------------


3. (SBU) The group of Tibetan refugees arrested in August,
2001 while attempting to transit Nepal on their way back to
Tibet from India (Ref A) continue to seek a royal amnesty.
The King will next grant an amnesty on the occasion of his
birthday, July 7. (Note: Of the original group of eleven,
one was released into the care of medical professionals at
the Tibetan Reception Center in Kathmandu due to severe
emotional distress. The number went back to eleven, however,
after one woman gave birth February 19. End Note.) Lawyers
for a local human rights organization have prepared petitions
for amnesty on behalf of the group.


4. (C) Post plans to contact Home Ministry officials and
write to the Prime Minister requesting that favorable
consideration be given to the amnesty request. UK and
Australian Emboffs have indicated to us that they will also
encourage GON officials to consider granting amnesty, and
UNHCR informed us that they wrote to the PM June 19 in
support of the Tibetans' appeal. Similar efforts were
expended in advance of the February 19 Democracy Day, the
last time the King granted amnesties, but without success
(Ref C).

Nepal Releases Minor Child
--------------


5. (C) UNHCR secured the release June 18 of an unaccompanied
14-year-old Tibetan arrested in March after entering Nepal
from Tibet. According to a UNHCR protection officer,
repeated entreaties on behalf of the boy fell on deaf ears at
first. Only when UNHCR pointed out that Nepal was a
signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child--and thus should not lock up minors--did authorities
agree to release him. (Note: Nepal, like its South Asian
neighbors, has not yet signed the UN Refugee Convention. End
Note.)

Tibetan Public Gatherings Still O.K.--In Private
-------------- --------------


6. (C) Kathmandu's Tibetans gathered at the Tibetan Reception
Center June 5 to mark the anniversary of the founding of the
modern Tibetan system of government headed by the Dalai Lama.
Nepalese authorities did not interfere with the assembly.
On April 28, however, a cultural program sponsored by the
Tibetan Youth Club to mark the thirteenth birthday of Gedhun
Choekyi Nyima - Dharamsala's pick for Panchen Lama - was
cancelled at the last minute after police told organizers
they would not let it proceed. The event was to have been
held at Kathmandu's Academy Hall, a public venue. Over the
past year, Nepalese authorities have allowed all manner of
Tibetan community activities to go forward on private
property (such as the reception center) but have not
permitted events at public venues, like that of the April 28
program, they construe to have political overtones.

Decline in New Arrivals Continues
--------------


7. (C) UNHCR Representative Michel Dupoizat told Emboff and
visiting China Mission PolOffs recently that the number of
Tibetans processed by UNHCR at the Tibetan Reception Center,
operated by the Tibetan community and headed by the Dalai
Lama's representative, Wangchuk Tsering, continues to decline
following a peak of 3,109 in 1998. Subsequent annual figures
for the years 1999, 2000 and 2001 were 2,182, 2,381 and
1,381, respectively. Only 323 have arrived in 2002 as of the
end of May (compared to 816, 665, 833 and 582 for the same
period in the years 1998-2001.) Dupoizat stressed that these
figures cover only those arriving at and processed by the
Center. Many others may not reach the Center as they pass
through Nepal en route to India.


8. (C) The Center keeps detailed records on each arrival
based on whether he or she arrived with passport, without
passport or as unaccompanied minors. The three categories
are further divided into region of origin: Kham, Amdo and
U-Tsang. While at the Center, PolOffs met a number of recent
arrivals. One group of three had come from the Deqin Tibetan
Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan province. After making their
way on their own to Lhasa, they hired a guide for RMB 2,000
per person to take them the rest of the way to Kathmandu.

Chinese Security Cited as Behind Drop in Arrivals
-------------- --------------


9. (C) Asked why numbers at the Reception Center are down,
Dupoizat and Wangchuk Tsering offered several explanations.
Dupoziat noted that it is now easier for Tibetans to obtain
travel documents, making UNHCR assistance unnecessary.
Citing unconfirmable reports, Dupoizat, echoed separately by
Tsering, suggested that the Chinese were becoming better at

SIPDIS
intercepting would-be India-bound travelers. Lastly, it was
suggested that the security situation within Nepal, with the
consequent pullback of security forces from many border
areas, has made it easier for Tibetans to slip all the way
through Nepal once across the border.

Background: Nepal and Tibetan Refugees
--------------


10. (C) By way of background, Dupoizat explained that until
January 1, 1990, the Nepal government allowed Tibetans to
stay in Nepal as refugees. Official recognition was spotty,
however; although Nepalese identity cards were issued to some
Tibetans resident in Nepal, others did not receive them.
Beginning in 1990, Nepal allowed new arrivals to transit but
insisted that they leave for a "third country," which was
invariably India. Most Tibetans now arriving in Nepal intend
to travel on to Dharamsala to see the Dalai Lama or to study,
either in a secular school or monastery, he noted. This
"transit-through" system worked fairly smoothly, he said,
until about 2000. However, following the December 25, 1999
hijacking of a plane bound from Kathmandu to New Delhi, the
January 2000 flight to India of the Karmapa, and subsequent
high-level visits between Nepal and China, the situation in
Nepal tightened up. As a result, the Nepal government no
longer grants permission for UNHCR to send monitoring
missions to the border with Tibet (Ref E). Nepal has,
however, permitted "familiarization" visits to the
headquarters of border districts for the purpose of
consulting with officials based there (Ref D).

UNHCR's Card System Marks One-Year Anniversary
-------------- -

11. (C) To address the continuing need to assist Tibetan
travelers while meeting the Nepal government's concerns, in
May 2001 UNHCR instituted a system whereby a card is prepared
for each individual Tibetan arriving at the Tibet Reception
Center identifying him as a "person of concern" to UNHCR (Ref
F). The person is not given the card at this point, however.
Once the number of individuals at the Center reaches a
"critical mass" (enough to fill a bus),they are sent to the
Indian border in the company of a Nepali immigration officer.
An Office of Tibet staffer accompanies the group all the way
to Dharamsala, carrying the Tibetans' cards which he turns
over to the government-in-exile. If and when the individual
decides to return to Tibet, the card is stamped with the date
he departs for Tibet from Dharamsala. He then has 30 days to
transit Nepal to Tibet. The Nepal Government tacitly, but
not formally, recognizes this system, and to date no one in
possession of this card has been detained by Nepalese
authorities.

Dalai Lama Still a Draw to TRC
--------------


12. (C) During a separate meeting with Wangchuk Tsering, head
of the Center and the Dalai Lama's Representative in Nepal,
Tsering suggested that most Tibetans do, indeed, try to reach

SIPDIS
the Center if only because those arriving in Dharamsala from
the Center are granted an audience with the Dalai Lama. Most
hire a guide to escort them along one of the three or four
most common mountain routes, which include via Kodari, Humla
in the west, and Nangpa Pass in the Khumbu region. Those
living within 30 kilometers of the border can obtain a Border
Trade Pass relatively easily (as can Nepalis living on the
other side of the border). Others try to get travel passes
(Ch: tongxing zheng) which will allow them to at least
approach the border area to make an attempt to slip across.

Refugees Pass Us By, Immigration Officers Say
--------------


13. (C) On June 11 Poloff met with Nepalese officials at the
Kodari border immigration office last visited by Post in May
2001 (Ref F). In March 2001 immigration officers there told
Emboff that they turned over to China approximately 150
Tibetans per year (Ref G). During a May 2001 follow-up
visit, Emboff heard that this practice had ceased. On June
11 Immigration officers repeated the claim that they no
longer turn over Tibetans to China. They insisted that
intending refugees elude detection by sneaking through
heavily forested areas around the border. There had been no
recent interdictions of Tibetans, the officers added.


14. (U) Post would like to thank Embassy Beijing for its
contribution to this report.
MALINOWSKI