Dharamshala: Authorities in Nepal have arrested at least 10 Tibetan refugees, who arrived in Charikot, the district headquarters of Dolakha in Nepal, without acquiring visas on Wednesday. Three of the arrested are confirmed as women.The Chinese Ambassador Qiu Guohang accompanied by the Military Attache of his Embassy in Kathmandu, June 2, 2010, rushed to the district of Dolakha when they were informed that some ten Tibetans have been arrested by Nepal Police in Chartikot.
According to Nepal police officials, the arrested Tibetan refugees arrived in Charikot through Lamabagar route bordering Nepal and Tibet. They walked on foot for five days from Lamabagar before catching a passenger bus from Singati area in the district to arrive in Charikot.
Chinese official in Nepal reportedly requested local administration there to either handover the illegal migrants to the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu, capital of Nepal or force them back to Tibet.
Amid growing pressure from the communist regime of China, Nepal has been sending back the Tibetan refugees "illegally entering into Nepal to China." Several news reports have confirmed that authorities of Nepal has handed over seven Tibetans to Chinese authorities living in Tibet, the arrested who were seeking refugee statute in the last month.
Tibetans sneak into Nepal to meet their exiled spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who lives in India where the exiled Tibetan government is based. The number of Tibetans fleeing Tibet has increased over the last few years.
China has been putting diplomatic pressure on Nepal to send back those illegally entering into Nepal after Tibetan refugees living in Nepal staged anti-China demonstrations in Kathmandu and other parts of the country. Accordingly, the Home Ministry has directed local administrations bordering Tibet to send back Tibetans "illegally entering into Nepal" to their homeland.
Various international communities including human rights organizations have alleged that Tibetans thus sent back home are punished and severely tortured by Chinese authorities in Tibet.
