According to information received by Tibetan Government in Exile, thousands of Tibetan devotees returning to Tibet are being arbitrarily stopped and searched. “Some twelve heavy security checkpoints have been placed between the Nepal-Tibet border (Chi:Zhangmu) and Lhasa. Extra units of personnel from the Public Security Bureau were posted to stop and search Tibetan devotees returning to Tibet” said Thubten Samphel, spokesperson for the exile Central Tibetan Administration.
Samphel stated that the checkpoints are reported to be confiscating even peoples medicines and religious artifacts such as rosaries and blessed objects that they had acquired during their pilgrimage. Thubten Samphel says that the CTA condemns such act by the Chinese authorities in Tibet and says that they are a clear indication of how the Tibetan people’ right to religious freedom and right to movement are being violated inside Tibet.