[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15278]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            TIBETAN REFUGEES

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I want to call attention to language in 
Senate Report 111-237 accompanying the fiscal year 2011 Department of 
State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs appropriations bill, 
which passed out of the Appropriations Committee on July 29, 2010.
  That language notes the committee's concern with recent events in 
Nepal, where Tibetan refugees have been forcibly turned over to Chinese 
border police. This contradicts Nepal's long and generous history of 
providing safe passage for Tibetans on route to India, and it is 
inconsistent with international law. In the past, Nepal has provided 
safe haven, and the United States, the United Nations, and other donors 
have provided the funds necessary to care for these people in transit.
  This is a matter of grave concern to the Congress and to people 
everywhere who know of the danger of arrest and imprisonment and the 
physical hardships Tibetans face, fleeing their homeland by crossing 
the Himalayas with little more than the clothes on their backs. I hope 
the Nepali Government will take note of the committee's concern and 
take immediate steps to reaffirm its policy of permitting Tibetan 
refugees to travel safely to India.
  I ask unanimous consent that this language in Report 111-237 be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       ``Tibetan Refugees.--The Committee is concerned with recent 
     actions by the Government of Nepal to prevent safe passage 
     for Tibetan refugees, including reports that some fleeing 
     Tibetans have been turned over to Chinese border authorities. 
     The Committee urges the Government of Nepal to reaffirm its 
     long tradition of permitting Tibetans to safely transit 
     Nepal, and continues to support assistance for these refugees 
     as well as Tibetans who have resettled in India.''

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