American embassy seeks clarification

Kathmandu, June 27

The Embassy of the United States in Kathmandu has sought clarification from the government regarding Saturday’s deportation of a Nepal-born US citizen on suspicion of being an agent of exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama.

The US embassy was troubled that the Nepal government deported a US citizen at the request of a foreign government and asked whether a US citizen entering Nepal needed clearance from foreign governments. “We are seeking clarification from the Nepal government about the facts of this specific instance and, more generally, on whether US citizens seeking to enter Nepal will be subject to clearance from other foreign governments,” said US Embassy Spokesperson Andie De Arment in an e-mailed statement. The embassy’s reaction comes two days after THT broke the story.

Penpa Tsering, 53, who arrived at Tribhuvan International Airport from New York City via New Delhi on Saturday, was denied entry into Nepal and was deported to the US after hours of questioning at the airport.

Penpa, born on 1 July 1965, was sent back to the US after immigration officials found out that in their records a man by the same name was on China’s ‘most-wanted’ list. The Chinese Embassy had written to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to restrict a person named Penpa Tsering from entering Nepal, labelling him a campaigner of the free Tibet movement, as well as a strong advocate of Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader.

The deported person’s connection to free-Tibet movement could not be independently verified. Nepal-born Tsering had acquired a US passport on 18 June 2012. He’s learnt to have visited Nepal earlier.

Officials concerned at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were not available for comments.

Observers said it was a mistake on the part of Nepali authorities and that they should be careful while taking such decisions in the future.

Former foreign secretary Madan Kumar Bhattarai said such cases of ‘mistaken identity’ were not new globally, as authorities concerned try to avoid taking risks. “Nevertheless, the government should acknowledge the mistake,” he said. Bhattarai said Nepal should be careful and not take arbitrary decisions as a sizeable number of tourists from the US visited Nepal.

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