The government is planning to settle the Tibetan refugee problem permanently, sources said. After the whirlwind visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao early this month, the government realised that the Tibetan refugee issue might jeopardise the Nepal-China relations if it remained unresolved.

 

The Ministry of Home Affairs, in association with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is mulling over collecting details of all Tibetans taking refuge in Nepal and issuing them new identity cards, the sources said. The government has no record of the Tibetan refugees in Nepal. MoHA officials estimate over 60,000 Tibetans are taking asylum here. The government is planning to settle the Tibetan refugee problem permanently, sources said.

 

After the whirlwind visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao early this month, the government realised that the Tibetan refugee issue might jeopardise the Nepal China relations if it remained unresolved. Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA), in association with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is mulling over collecting details of all Tibetans taking refuge in Nepal and issuing them new identity cards, the sources said.

 

The government has no record of the Tibetan refugees in Nepal. MoHA officials estimate over 60,000 Tibetans are taking asylum here. In 2001 survey, as many as 18,000 Tibetans exiled from China’s Autonomous Region of Tibet were taking refuge in the country.

 

“The government has no record whether the number of refugees has gone up or down,” said a MoHA official.

“The situation has made it more difficult for us to identify the Tibetan refugees.” As a result, the government reportedly arrested even non-Tibetans during Jiabao’s visit on the suspicion of possible self-immolation or anti-Chinese demonstrations for Free-Tibet Movement.

 

Before departing for Japan for health-check up, Deputy Prime Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha said, “We must settle the Tibetan refuge issue. I am discussing the matter with concerned stakeholders.”