The 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom, released by the US State Department on Jun 2, has taken exception to the fact that police surveillance of Tibetan refugees in Nepal had remained high throughout the year.

In some cases, the number of security personnel monitoring Tibetans and the scrutiny of Tibetan cultural and religious celebrations, particularly those involving the Dalai Lama, increased, noted theannapurnaexpress.com in a dispatch on Jun 8.

Further, Tibetan community leaders were cited as saying while government authorities generally permitted them to celebrate most Buddhist holidays and cultural events in private ceremonies, public celebrations, including of the Dalai Lama’s birthday, continued to remain prohibited.

On the actions the US government had taken on the situation, the report has said the Ambassador and visiting US government representatives had met with Nepal’s officials to express concern regarding restrictions on the country’s Tibetan community.

Also, embassy officials were stated to have met with civil society groups and government officials to discuss the challenges of registering and reregistering religiously affiliated NGOs and other NGOs.

Nepal insists that it imposes those and other restrictions on Tibetans due to its adherence the “one China” policy, vowing never to allow any “anti-China” activities, as perceived by Beijing, on its soil.

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