WikiLeaks cable says China paid Nepal to arrest Tibetans

Mon, 20 Dec 2010

Kathmandu - A US diplomatic cable released by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks said China paid Nepali officials to arrest Tibetans, resulting in a decline of Tibetans traveling to the Indian hill town were the Dalai Lama lives in exile.

"The Chinese government rewards [Nepali authorities] by providing financial incentives to officers who hand over Tibetans attempting to exit China," the document quoted one of at least two unnamed officials as telling a US political officer in New Delhi.

The source said in the cable dated February 22 that an average of 2,500 to 3,500 refugees from Tibet arrive in Dharamsala, India, each year with most returning to Tibet after receiving an audience with the Dalai Lama where his government-in-exile is headquartered.

According to the cable, the number of Tibetans traveling to India through Nepal declined significantly after a March 2008 uprising in Tibet. About 650 refugees were processed at the Dharamsala Reception Center for Tibetan refugees from April 2008 to March 2009.

"Beijing has asked Kathmandu to step up patrols of Nepali border forces and make it more difficult for Tibetans to enter Nepal," the cable read.

One of the sources was described as "optimistic that the flow of the refugees will soon go back to normal levels because admission statistics for 2010 are surpassing those from an equivalent period in 2009."

About 20,000 Tibetan exiles live in Nepal, which has often faced UN criticism about its treatment of the immigrants. According to a "gentlemen's agreement," Nepal is expected to allow Tibetan refugees without legal documents to pass through its territory to India.

Nepal, which honors the "one-China" policy that includes Tibet, has quelled several anti-Beijing protests in Kathmandu.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/358952,paid-nepal-arrest-tibetans.html.