download the report - International Campaign for Tibet

Once Tibetan refugees successfully evade Chinese border patrols andcross the perilously high mountain divide, they face the possibility ofharassment and arrest during the trip from the border areas toKathmandu. On this part of their journey, refugees reportedly encounteredfewer Nepalese police patrols in 2002. In response to Maoist guerillaassaults, Nepalese police units were pulled back to main towns and thearmy was deployed to fight the insurgency. The army units, hunkereddown in sandbagged compounds, had little interest in venturing outto track Tibetan refugees. The police and army units in Thame, whereincidents of extortion and beating of Tibetan refugees had previouslyoccurred, were relocated to Namche Bazaar, and the refugees generallytraveled through unimpeded.There were no official UNHCR reports of refoulement or forced repatriationat the Nepal-China Friendship Bridge. From this point, Nepalesepolice are from time to time alleged to hand over Tibetans to Chineseborder guards in exchange for small bribes or other inducements, suchas a pass to travel to Dram, a larger town on the Tibetan side of theborder. v Given the increased emphasis on stopping Tibetan refugeeflights at the source, ICT presumes that this friendly arrangement persists.There were accounts of refoulement from Tibetans who had madea successful re-attempt to cross the border and had arrived safely at theTibetan Refugee Transit Center (TRTC) in Kathmandu.A father and son walk towardKathmandu. It frequently takes2 weeks of walking and a day ofdriving or 3 weeks of walkingto reach Kathmandu.A large percentage of Tibetan refugees arechildren 16 years and younger. Some parentstry to send their children to India in order toobtain a better education or a Tibetan education.5