ICT's new report entitled, "Dangerous Crossing, Conditions Impacting the Flight of Tibetan Refugees in 2001," is the first of what will become an annual report on Tibetan refugees and their flight out of Tibet. You can also purchase hard copies of the report at ICT's online store.

The report was compiled by ICT staff in the Washington, DC and Amsterdam offices, in Tibet, and in the Tibetan refugee communities in India and Nepal.

This year's report focuses primarily on political circumstances in Nepal that put at risk the traditional hospitality extended to Tibetan refugees and the informal agreement between the Nepal government and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that provides for their safe transit to India. The report considers the reasons Tibetans undertake the dangerous crossing into exile and examines the mechanics of their journey, the obstacles along the way, and the mechanisms in place to assist them.

Since the 1980's, ICT has interviewed hundreds of Tibetan refugees en route in Nepal and newly arrived in India. Their reports have been an important source of information on human rights, the economic and political situation in Tibet and, as this year's report indicates, the strategies China has adopted to muffle this information. In particular, the report examines China's growing influence in Nepal.

Finally, the report makes recommendations to the governments of India and Nepal, other sympathetic governments, nongovernmental organizations, and the UNHCR.

If you wish to purchase this report, you can do so here.