US
pressures Nepal on Tibetan exiles By Saransh Sehgal
DHARAMSALA, India -
A trip to Tibetan refugee centers in Nepal by a
high-profile United States diplomat could be seen
as part of the United States' "soft spot" for
Tibet, or it could be seen as Washington defying
China over human rights.
Undersecretary of
State for Democracy and Global Affairs Mario
Otero, who also serves as the White House's
special coordinator for Tibetan issues, visited
Tibetan refugee centers in Nepal and southern
India last week during a week-long trip to South
Asia. During her visit, Otero showed the US's
solidarity to Tibetan exiles, even pressing
Nepalese authorities to soften their stance on
refugees. She also held bilateral meetings with
senior government officials in New Delhi, Nepal
and Bhutan.
Otero was accompanied with
Scott H DeLisi, the US ambassador
to Nepal, and other US
diplomats. They met with Nepalese Prime Minister
Jhala Nath Khanal and raised issues relating to
challenges faced by Tibetan refugees. "We made it
clear that this is an important issue for us,"
Otero told Nepalese media.
The envoy
called on the Nepalese government to honor the
United Nations-brokered "gentlemen's agreement"
between Nepal and the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees to provide safe transit to Tibetan
refugees who wish to travel through Nepal to
Dharamsala, India, the capital of exiled Tibetans.
She also raised the issue of free passage for
refugees from Tibet who face problems in Nepal due
to their lack of identity cards. "There is a
stable practice while dealing with Tibetan issues
which ensures providing them free passage to
India," the US envoy was quoted by Kantipur
online.
Otero urged the Nepalese
government to allow Tibetan refugees free passage
to India without restrictions. She also pledged
the continued support of the US government for the
safety and welfare of Tibetan refugees in Nepal.
She highlighted the problems faced by
Tibetans in the Himalayan region, according to
Milan Thuladhar, the foreign relations adviser to
the Nepalese prime minister. He said Khanal told
the US guest that his government was dealing with
the issue in accordance with its international
human-rights obligations.
The US
undersecretary also visited a Tibetan reception
center in Kathmandu to meet and talk with
newly-arrived refugees. Earlier in her trip in
India she visited Bylakuppe, the Tibetan
settlement in southern India, where she held an
interactive session with students, monks and nuns.
She was hosted by the Dalai Lama's special envoy,
Lodi Gyari, and officials from the
government-in-exile.
Visits by US
officials have always been regarded as of much
value among Tibetan exiles. "Undersecretary Maria
Otero expressed the United States' continued
support for the safety and welfare of Tibetan
refugees in Nepal, and said she would carry their
message back to Washington," said Todd Stein,
director of government relations at the
International Campaign for Tibet (ICT). "Her visit
signals that concerns for Tibetans, both the
refugees and vulnerable long-staying population,
remains a key interest in US relations with
Nepal."
The ICT, a US-based Tibet lobby
group, also said the act was an "indication of the
United States' commitment to a negotiated
resolution on Tibet that preserves the distinct
religious, cultural and linguistic heritage of the
Tibetan people".
Nepal has launched many
crackdowns on Tibetan exiles. About 20,000 Tibetan
refugees live in Nepal, according to government
statistics, but thousands more live as illegal
migrants. Nepal repeatedly vows not to allow
anti-China activities on its soil, and strictly
observes a "one China policy" that holds that
Tibet is part of China.
The Chinese
pressure has been such that Nepal has refused to
recognize refugees who arrived after 1989,
significantly limiting their social, economic,
political and civil rights. It is also known that
Tibetan refugees are also not allowed to register
marriages and the birth of children. Recent US
Embassy cables released by WikiLeaks have also
revealed Nepal's stringent policies treating
Tibetans who fled from Tibet to Nepal.
China pays Nepalese police to arrest
Tibetan refugees as they cross over the border to
escape persecution. However, the Chinese
government contends that Tibetans arriving in
Nepal are illegal migrants and has sought their
repatriation. Presently, the Chinese influence is
so strong that Nepal, which was once supportive of
the Tibetans, is now turning away Tibetan refugees
and handing the newly arrived refugees over to the
Chinese.
"The link between China's
aggression against Tibetans and Nepalese police
actions has contributed to an environment of fear
and insecurity in Nepal's Tibetan communities,"
the ICT said.
As China frowns on any
country hosting and supporting Tibetan exiles in
any capacity, especially the iconic monk the Dalai
Lama, the recent support shown by the United
States in visiting Tibetans in Nepal would upset
Beijing, which is witnessing warming Sino-US
relations.
During Chinese President Hu
Jintao's visit to Washington in January, where he
was hosted with a state dinner, the two sides
agreed to build a cooperative partnership based on
mutual respect. Most importantly, they discussed
issues related to human rights.
Obama said
during a joint news conference, "As I've said
before and I repeated to President Hu, we have
some core views as Americans about the
universality of certain rights - freedom of
speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly -
that we think are very important and that
transcend cultures."
Interestingly, Hu
admitted that on human rights "a lot still needs
to be done" and that Beijing was willing to have
dialogue as long as it was based on mutual respect
and non-interference in China's internal affairs.
The US, he said, must recognize that Taiwan and
Tibet are "issues that concern China's territorial
integrity and China's core interests".
Experts believe Hu's visit has advanced
Sino-US relations, with each side better
understanding the other. "Hu's visit was very
important for both sides to have realistic,
pragmatic, stable expectations of the other and to
understand not only what are the problems in the
relationship, but also to understand how those
problems look from the other side," Kenneth
Lieberthal, the director of the John L Thornton
China Center at the Brookings Institution in
Washington, said.
"We have too many
overlapping interests and goals that are of
significance bilaterally, regionally and globally.
The visit made progress on those issues and those
issues are ones that always need constant work,"
he added.
Regarding Tibet, Nepal finds
itself in a bind, pressured both by the world's
two largest economies. The latest US gesture was
Otero's pledge to provide US$850,000 in assistance
to the Nepal police to improve its security
capability.
"The US government has a
robust partnership with the Nepal police because
we understand that improving law and order in
Nepal and protecting Nepalis' security are
essential tasks for a country coming out of the
insecurity of a long conflict," Otero said.
Nepal now is in a difficult position. On the
one hand, it is under enormous pressure from
China, its neighboring giant, to block Tibetan
refuges and to bar anti-China activities by
Tibetan refugees. On the other hand, it faces
growing pressures from the West to protect the
human rights of refugees.
Tsering Namgyal,
one of those refugees, has closely watched
Nepalese government policies. He says his family
is still in a refugee center in Nepal, where it is
not safe. "It will be too early to say that US
government pressure will have any affect on the
Nepalese government, as China may get tougher."
Saransh Sehgal is a contributor
based in Dharamsala, India, who can be reached
at info@mcllo.com.
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