NEPAL: OFFICE OF TIBET REPRESENTATIVE MEETS

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 001547

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR SA/INS, PRM/ANE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/04/2014
TAGS: PREF PGOV PREL NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: OFFICE OF TIBET REPRESENTATIVE MEETS
AMBASSADOR MORIARTY

REF: A. KATHMANDU 1096


B. KATHMANDU 1418

C. KATHMANDU 1479

Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty; Reasons 1.4 (b/d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Wangchuk Tsering, Director of the Office of
Tibet, outlined for Ambassador Moriarty on August 5 the
issues facing Tibetan refugees, both those transiting Nepal
to India and those resident in Nepal. The Ambassador
informed Wangchuk that he had raised many of these issues in
his meetings thus far with GON officials, and that the
Embassy would continue to push Tibetan refugee concerns. END
SUMMARY.


2. (C) Highlighting the need for Nepal-resident Tibetan
refugees (those who arrived before 1990 and their children --
about 20,000 people) to be furnished with identification,
Wangchuk explained that he had sent a list of more than 4,000
paperless refugees to UNHCR to raise with the Home Ministry
(Ref A). Particularly in light of the insurgency, these
refugees needed identification, both to move about freely in
Nepal, as well as to seek higher education. Wangchuk also
noted that Nepal had never granted these refugees the right
to work here in Nepal, although many were doing so just the
same.


3. (C) Wangchuk outlined the problems faced by refugees
attempting to enter Nepal from Tibet for onward transit to
India (on average about 2,500/yr). Aside from the physical
dangers of the passage, he noted, thus far the Nepali Home
Ministry had not issued the terms of the "Gentleman's
Agreement" in writing to border officials. When staff from
UNHCR or the Tibetan Refugee Reception Center (TRRC) traveled
to the border to receive refugees, border officials generally
accepted a UNHCR letter asking that the refugees be allowed
to travel on to Kathmandu, but often expressed reluctance to
release refugees without clear instructions from the Home
Ministry. The Ambassador told Wangchuk that he had raised
this issue with both the Prime Minister and Home Minister
(Refs B and C),but had not received a clear answer. The
Prime Minister appeared to believe everyone at the border was
aware of the need to allow transit of legitimate refugees.
Wangchuk then told the Ambassador how transiting Tibetan
refugees, a particularly vulnerable group, had faced
harassment and had been robbed by police occasionally and
Maoists regularly, especially when forced to travel from the
border to Kathmandu by road. Wangchuk stated that he had
asked UNHCR to provide one or two counselors to the TRRC to
help the refugees that had been traumatized by such
experiences.


4. (C) Wangchuk also explained that the Chinese Embassy had
made the Tibetan issue their number one priority in Nepal.
The Chinese had exerted great pressure on Nepali officials to
prevent resident Tibetans from holding their celebrations,
and had also pressured the Nepalis to force refugees to
return to Tibet (Ref A). The Chinese had highlighted Tibetan
refugees as an obstacle in the bilateral relationship.
Wangchuk stated that while it was impossible to know if
refugees had been turned back at the border, he was unaware
of any recent refoulements of Tibetans who had made it past
the border areas into Nepal.


5. (C) Ambassador Moriarty assured Wangchuk that the Embassy
would continue to push the GON to issue written instructions
to border officials, and would also continue its close
cooperation with UNHCR on behalf of the Tibetans.
MORIARTY