28 March 2008

KATHMANDU - A group of Tibetan school children scaled the walls of the United Nations office in Kathmandu on Friday to enter the compound to protest against Chinese rule in Tibet, as Nepalese police arrested dozens of demonstrators.

The school children carried out demonstrations outside the UN compound and provided diversion for another group of children to enter the world body's office.

The school children then waved Tibetan flags and shouted slogans demanding human rights in Tibet and UN investigations into the recent troubles in Lhasa.

In demonstrations outside the UN office, Nepalese police detained about 60 demonstrators, many of whom were wearing Tibetan flags around their heads.

The demonstrators were prevented from marching on the UN office and were loaded into police trucks and vans before being whisked away to police stations.

"Long live Dalai Lama! Stop Chinese repression of Tibetans!" shouted Nawang Lama, a monk as he was shoved into a police van.

"We will continue our protests until our demands are met," he told reporters before being taken away.

The protests by the Tibetan exiles have continued almost daily in Kathmandu despite a Nepalese government crackdown.

In most cases, Nepalese police have used force to break up demonstrations, a policy that has been criticised by the United Nations and human rights organizations.

Most of the demonstrators were expected to be released by the evening as they have been in previous mass arrests.

Nepal has more than 20,000 Tibetans concentrated mainly in the Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara in western Nepal.

The figure does not include Tibetans who arrived in the country after 1990 because the Nepalese government stopped registering them as refugees.

Estimates said about 3,000 Tibetans arrive in Nepal each year, crossing dangerous mountain passes and risking their lives to flee Chinese rule.

The Nepalese government has said repeatedly that it considers Tibet to be part of China and will not tolerate anti-Chinese activities.

[Copyright dpa 2008]