Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KATHMANDU223
2006-01-23 10:00:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kathmandu
how-toVZCZCXRO8672 OO RUEHCN DE RUEHKT #0223 0231000 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 231000Z JAN 06 FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0007 INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 3843 RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 3511 RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 9082 RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU PRIORITY 0269 RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 1065 RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 000223
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR SA/INS, PRM
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/23/2016
TAGS: PREF NP
SUBJECT: 41 TIBETANS ARRESTED AND RELEASED
REF: KATHMANDU 172
Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty. Reasons 1.4 (b/d).
Tibetans Returning from Teaching in India Briefly Detained
--------------------------------------------- -------------
C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 000223
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR SA/INS, PRM
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/23/2016
TAGS: PREF NP
SUBJECT: 41 TIBETANS ARRESTED AND RELEASED
REF: KATHMANDU 172
Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty. Reasons 1.4 (b/d).
Tibetans Returning from Teaching in India Briefly Detained
-------------- --------------
1. (SBU) On January 22, Nepali police arrested forty-one
Tibetans at Thankot, the main entry point for the Kathmandu
valley. (Note: This checkpoint was the site of a high
profile Maoist attack on January 14. Reftel. End note.)
The group of Tibetans were returning to Kathmandu, en route
to Tibet, after attending the Dalai Lama's Kalachakra
ceremony in India. The Nepal office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told us that the
police handed the group over to the Department of Immigration
(DOI),who interviewed the members of the group, and
determined that all forty-one were Chinese passport holders
with valid Nepalese visas. According to Tibetan Reception
Center (TRC) staff, DOI had released all members of the
group.
Many Tibetans Transiting Nepal to Tibet
--------------
2. (SBU) UNHCR explained to Emboff that the Dalai Lama's
Kalachakra ceremony ended one week ago, and this group was
among the thousands of Tibetans now returning to Tibet.
UNHCR noted that a reported 100,000 people, including an
estimated 8,000 or more Tibetans from Tibet, attended the
Kalachakra. Many Tibetans were able to obtain passports and
visas for Nepal, but were afraid of returning to China with
Indian stamps in their passports. They therefore left their
passports in Nepal while traveling illegally to India,
picking up the passports in Kathmandu before returning to
China - with no evidence in the passports of having visited
India.
Comment
--------------
3. (C) With Nepal's security forces on high alert, we may
well see more arrests like these in coming days, as Tibetans
try to return via Kathmandu to collect their travel documents
for returning to Tibet. This leaves them vulnerable to
arrest while traveling from the Indian border to Kathmandu.
Many others who traveled without passports (some processed as
new arrivals at TRC with UNHCR assistance) may also now
attempt to return to Tibet secretly, and may face problems at
various points in Nepal. TRC staff are on the alert and
UNHCR has explained they will intervene should persons of
concern face detention or deportation.
MORIARTY
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR SA/INS, PRM
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/23/2016
TAGS: PREF NP
SUBJECT: 41 TIBETANS ARRESTED AND RELEASED
REF: KATHMANDU 172
Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty. Reasons 1.4 (b/d).
Tibetans Returning from Teaching in India Briefly Detained
-------------- --------------
1. (SBU) On January 22, Nepali police arrested forty-one
Tibetans at Thankot, the main entry point for the Kathmandu
valley. (Note: This checkpoint was the site of a high
profile Maoist attack on January 14. Reftel. End note.)
The group of Tibetans were returning to Kathmandu, en route
to Tibet, after attending the Dalai Lama's Kalachakra
ceremony in India. The Nepal office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told us that the
police handed the group over to the Department of Immigration
(DOI),who interviewed the members of the group, and
determined that all forty-one were Chinese passport holders
with valid Nepalese visas. According to Tibetan Reception
Center (TRC) staff, DOI had released all members of the
group.
Many Tibetans Transiting Nepal to Tibet
--------------
2. (SBU) UNHCR explained to Emboff that the Dalai Lama's
Kalachakra ceremony ended one week ago, and this group was
among the thousands of Tibetans now returning to Tibet.
UNHCR noted that a reported 100,000 people, including an
estimated 8,000 or more Tibetans from Tibet, attended the
Kalachakra. Many Tibetans were able to obtain passports and
visas for Nepal, but were afraid of returning to China with
Indian stamps in their passports. They therefore left their
passports in Nepal while traveling illegally to India,
picking up the passports in Kathmandu before returning to
China - with no evidence in the passports of having visited
India.
Comment
--------------
3. (C) With Nepal's security forces on high alert, we may
well see more arrests like these in coming days, as Tibetans
try to return via Kathmandu to collect their travel documents
for returning to Tibet. This leaves them vulnerable to
arrest while traveling from the Indian border to Kathmandu.
Many others who traveled without passports (some processed as
new arrivals at TRC with UNHCR assistance) may also now
attempt to return to Tibet secretly, and may face problems at
various points in Nepal. TRC staff are on the alert and
UNHCR has explained they will intervene should persons of
concern face detention or deportation.
MORIARTY