20 June 2006
Nepal resumes issuing exit permits for Tibetans
(Phayul) The Nepalese Department of Immigration, has resumed issuing exit permits for newly arrived Tibetan refugees from Tibet after a hiatus of about nine months. Nepal suspended the issuing of such permits in October 2005 and the resumption follows the recent change of regime in Kathmandu, after the king released executive power to a popular front government. According to an official from the Tibetan Refugee Transit Centre in Kathmandu, "We are relieved that the Nepal Government has resumed issuing exit permits, the journey for these newly arrived Tibetans to India will be now safer". The Kathmandu Post reported in March 2006 that a government official admitted that the suspension had been a political decision, inferring that it had occurred on pressure from Beijing and as an outcome of the politically isolated King Gyanendra’s attempt to receive support from China. 40 refugees have now left but there are still more than 70 Tibetan refugees remaining at the Transit Centre.