download the report - International Campaign for Tibet

Most Tibetan refugees are so obviously destitute that they are notroutinely targeted for extortion by the Maoists patrols, although therewere some of these incidents with Maoists or local brigands posingas Maoists in 2002. The general deterioration of the security situationthroughout Nepal meant that UNHCR officials were not permitted toconduct trainings for Nepalese police in the border areas. In the past,these trainings have been helpful to reduce the exploitation and abuseof refugees although, at the end of 2001, Nepalese border police reportedlysaid that “they had had no instructions as to what to do about theTibetans, and that they did not have the space to hold people for long.” viThe garrisoning of the Nepalese police also curtailed UNHCR’s practiceof providing travel reimbursements for police who accompanied Tibetanrefugees to Kathmandu for screening. Due to the intensity of the Maoistinsurgency, police were not inclined to sacrifice manpower or undertakethe risk to travel between their border posts and Kathmandu with refugeegroups. The security situation has also impacted access to the borderareas for UNHCR monitoring and reporting on forced repatriation ofrefugees.Occupation / ProfileConsistent with past years, significant percentages of new arrivals are minors(approximately one third) or monks and nuns (approximately one quarter).20% StudentsChildrennot attendingschool 18%22% MonksNo employment < 1%Others < 2%2% Nuns26% Farmers10% Nomads7