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Nepal to decide soon on the future of Tibetans

Nepal News

A Tibetan monk in Kathmandu on September 2. The Nepalese government would soon decide the fate of Tibetan refugees residing in Nepal as the country would no longer be able to bear the burden they cause. File photo/AFP/Prakash Mathema/Nepal

The Tibetan refugees residing in the country since the past many decades are now being seen as a “burden” by the government with plans afoot to decide on their fate.

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Bam Dev Gautam said Monday that Nepal would no longer be able to bear the burden of the Tibetan refugees and that the government will soon decide the matter through review of the existing laws or by giving them the status of Nepali citizen.

Talking to local journalist in Pokhara, Gautam said the government would not allow Nepali soil be used against friendly neighbors, referring to anti-China demonstration by Tibetan refugees in Kathmandu since March this year.

He said Tibetans found misusing the rights given to them as refugees by indulging in anti-China protests would be arrested and legal action would be taken against them. He also said that those without identity papers would be handed over to the UNHCR.

A few weeks ago the government had handed over 132 Tibetan protesters to UNHCR in order to verify their refugee status after arresting them during anti-China demonstrations outside of the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu.

There are around 14,000 Tibetans with ID cards and refugee status, which the government conferred on Tibetans entering Nepal before 1985, according to the Kathmandu Post. It has been 13 years since the government stopped issuing such ID cards even as around 2,500 Tibetans have been entering Nepal every year.

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