On the recordAugust 5, 2010
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.
