64 Tibetans including four women arrested near Mount Everest

KATHMANDU, Nov 24 (AFP) - A group of 64 young Tibetans including four women have been arrested at a Nepal checkpoint near Mount Everest while fleeing their Chinese-ruled homeland, a police source said Wednesday.

It was the second large group of Tibetans detained in just over a week trying to reach Nepal.

They were arrested after crossing into Nepal without legal travel documents, the police source said.

"We have recorded the statements from the 64 Tibetans who escaped from Amdo province of Tibet for their political freedom and we found they don't have the valid travel documents," he said.

"We have transported them to Kathmandu to hand them over to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) through the Department of Immigration."

They are then expected to be placed in the care of the Tibetan Reception Centre (TRC) in Kathmandu.

Last week a group of 73 Tibetans were arrested near Solu valley close to Mount Everest and have since been taken to Dharmasala in northern India where Tibetan religious leader, the Dalai Lama, is based.

"The fresh group of 64 young Tibetans will be given shelter at the Tibetan Reception Centre for about a week and they will be provided a pair of warm clothes and shoes before being transported to Dharmasala", a Tibetan source said.

So far this year 1,864 people have fled Tibet, making a near 350 kilometre (220 mile) arduous journey over rugged mountains "often without food and snow shoes," the Tibetan said.