Published by: World Tibet Network News, Tuesday, Jun 18, 1996

KATHMANDU, June 18 (Kyodo) -- Nepalese police arrested Monday 25 people from the Tibet Autonomous Region of China who had illegally entered Nepal, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

The Tibetans, including eight women, had crossed into the Dailekh district in northwestern Nepal, the Kantipur daily said.

According to Nepalese immigration officials, Tibetans have been fleeing from their country via Nepal in increasing numbers in the past few years. They said an estimated 5,000 Tibetan nationals entered Nepal in 1995.

According to official figures, Nepal has 20,000 Tibetan refugees sheltered in camps in some 22 districts of the kingdom. Unofficial estimates, however, put the number at around 100,000.

Most of the Tibetans arrested for illegal entry tell the Nepalese immigration authorities that their destination is neighboring India, where the Tibetans' spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, lives as well as a Tibetan government-in-exile.

In actuality, however, many choose to stay in Nepal itself, or return to Nepal after a brief visit to India, the immigration officials said.

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LONDON NW8 7AF, UNITED KINGDOM

Tel: 0041-171-722 5378 Fax: 0041-171-722 0362

E-mail: tibetlondon@gn.apc.org

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