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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
AI Index: ASA 31/021/2003 (Public)
News Service No: 132
2 June 2003
Nepal: Forcible return of Tibetans to China
unacceptable
Amnesty International today condemned the forcible
return to China of 18 Tibetan asylum seekers from
Nepal on Saturday and called on the international
community to do more to ensure that individual states
uphold their obligations toward refugees and asylum
seekers under international standards.
"Increasingly we are finding that nowhere is safe for
refugees and asylum seekers from China, particularly
neighbouring countries like Nepal," Amnesty
International said.
"The international community must act together to
ensure that the rights of refugees and asylum seekers
are protected wherever they seek safety".
This latest operation appears to confirm widely held
suspicions that China has increased its pressure on
other countries to return its nationals over recent
months. Last year, three ethnic Uighur asylum seekers
from China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region are
believed to have been forcibly returned to China from
Nepal even after they had been granted refugee status
by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR).
The fate of two of them, Shaheer Ali and Abdu Allah
Sattar, remains unclear but unofficial sources suggest
that the other, Kheyum Whashim Ali, is currently
detained in the regional capital Urumqi. His legal
status and state of health are unknown and Amnesty
International remains seriously concerned for his
safety.
In this latest incident, the group of 18 Tibetans were
sent back at around 6am on Saturday in a joint
operation carried out by officials from Nepal and
China. Eyewitnesses described them as being carried
crying and screaming into vehicles before being driven
in the direction of the border. The operation was
carried out in the face of widespread international
concern expressed by the UNHCR, governments and NGOs.
Eight children were reported to be among those
deported on Saturday. Two other girls, aged nine and
six, and a six-year-old boy had already been released
into the custody of UNHCR and were not deported. The
father of the young boy was reported to be among those
sent back. At least eight of the deportees were
reported to be ill, although further details about
their state of health remain unclear.
"This operation was carried out in blatant disregard
for international human rights and refugee law
standards", Amnesty International said.
"We fear that these people could be at risk of torture
or other serious human rights violations and are
calling on the Chinese authorities to provide
immediate guarantees for their safety."
The 18 people were among a group of 21 Tibetans,
including eleven under the age of eighteen, who had
been detained by the police in mid-April 2003 after
making the hazardous border crossing into Nepal from
Tibet. They were charged with entering Nepal "illegally"
and given prison sentences of up to ten months.
On Friday 30 May, UNHCR publicly stated that it had
strong reasons to believe that the individuals would
be of concern to them but that they had been denied
access to them to assess their claims. It warned that
returning people before their status had been
determined would be in clear contravention of
international law. Following the deportations, UNHCR
has expressed 'grave concern' about their fate.
Until now, the Nepali authorities have allowed UNHCR
to assess the claims of Tibetan asylum seekers and
facilitate their resettlement or transit to third
countries, usually India. UNHCR has described the
Saturday deportations as an 'alarming departure' from
that practice.
While it is not a party to the UN Convention relating
to the Status of Refugees, Nepal is party to the
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment which prohibits the
return of anyone to a country where they are at risk
of torture, and the Convention on the Rights of the
Child which obliges States to ensure that a child who
is seeking refugee status receives appropriate
protection.
For latest human rights news view http://news.amnesty.org.
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