Kathmandu — Hollywood star and Dalai Lama fan Richard Gere will launch a report titled “Dangerous Crossing” on the plight of Tibetans trying to flee from China’s control.
The report carries eyewitness account, describing how Chinese troops fired on an unarmed group of women, children and monks, killing a nun in an incident that
created international outrage last year.
The Hollywood actor, who supports Tibetans’ fight to free their country from Chinese annexation, will release the report, “Dangerous Crossing”, compiled by International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), in Berlin on next Monday.
The report also documents the insecurity awaiting Tibetan refugees who arrive in Nepal after secretly crossing over through freezing mountain passes due to China’s growing influence on the Himalayan kingdom.
When King Gyanendra controlled Nepal’s government, both indirectly and then directly, Nepal considered China to be its ‘all-weather’ friend and began a crackdown on Tibetan refugees, at times even handing them over to the Chinese authorities.
Now though the royal regime has been ousted, Beijing has stepped up its drive to get close to the seven-party government as well as the Maoists.
It is quietly stepping up its demand for fresh deportations from Nepal, the updated report says.
The ‘dramatic political developments’ in Nepal last year, including the end of King Gyanendra’s government and the beginning of peace talks between the new government and the Maoist guerrillas, have also affected Tibetans, both those resident in Nepal and the groups fleeing from Tibet to reach India via Nepal.
Around 2,500 to 3,000 Tibetans brave the dangerous route through the Himalayan ranges to flee to India to see the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of the Tibetans whose official seat is at Dharamshala in northern India.
More than a third of the fugitives are children, sent by their parents to study in Tibetan exile schools due to inadequate or unaffordable education in Tibet.
Many are monks and nuns seeking to practice their religion in freedom, while others leave because they have lost their land or are unable to make a living due to competition for work from increasing numbers of Chinese migrants, under China’s transformative economic policies in Tibet.
The perils of the fugitives was heightened by an incident last September when Chinese border patrols fired on a group, killing a 17-year-old nun.
Romanian cameraman Sergiu Matei, who filmed the shooting at the Nangpa Pass, will also co-launch the report with Gere.
The films by Matei and other western climbers who witnessed the incident gave the lie to China’s claim that the fugitives had attacked the troops and triggered widespread international condemnation.
Mary Beth Markey, ICT Vice-President, says Beijing has to agree on a political solution to the Tibet issue.
“Until a political solution is reached that provides Tibetans a sense of hope and optimism about their future, we can expect the dangerous crossing of Tibetans to continue,” she said.
Supporters of the Free Tibet cause are known for their ingenious campaigns that catch the public eye.
Besides Gere, they have earlier used other globally known icons like South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, comic book hero Tintin and Valentine’s Day to
drum up public support.