24 October 2006
China detains three for helping Tibetans flee country
(RFA) Chinese authorities in Lhasa have detained two Tibetans and one Nepalese ethnic Sherpa for allegedly escorting Tibetan asylum-seekers from China into India. The detentions on 09 October follow the incident on 30 September in which Chinese guards opened fire on a group of Tibetans fleeing across the rugged border with Nepal, killing two people. Several sources told RFA’s Tibetan service that a team of Chinese Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials from the central Barkhor area raided a home in Lophuk, in Lhasa city. They detained two Tibetans, Tashi, from Chamdo (Chin: Changdu) county in the TAR, and the other Yedor, from Dege Jomda (Chin: Dege Jiangda), said one source who asked not to be named. "They also detained a Sherpa from Nepal in the Barkhor area on 10 October but his name is unknown, another source said. "He is also suspected of working as an escort for Tibetans [trying to] escape to Nepal". One of the three men is being held in Gutsa prison in Lhasa, sources told RFA, but the whereabouts of the other two are unknown. Authorities in Lhasa, contacted by telephone, declined to comment. Tibetan sources meanwhile report that 53 other Tibetans have been detained since September as they tried to flee to Nepal. These include groups of nine, 16, and 28 people, detained in the Dzonga area of Ngari (Chin: Ali) prefecture, Shigatse city in Shigatse prefecture, and Lhatze county in Shigatse, respectively. Two monks detained with the group of 28 in Lhatze were released after explaining that they were making a pilgrimage rather than seeking asylum. These figures were reported by several sources but cannot be independently confirmed.