(TibetanReview.net, Feb14’24) – The Covid-19 pandemic may have long ceased to be a matter of serious concern across the world, but not so to the Chinese government as far as its occupied Tibet’s border area with Nepal is concerned. Officials in Tibet say they are still awaiting Beijing’s permission to reopen the border, which was shut in Jan 2020 to tame the Covid pandemic, reported the kathmandupost.com Feb 14.
The Chinese government closed Tiptala Bhanjyang near the Nepal-Tibet border in Taplejung amid the coronavirus threat in Jan 2020. Due to the protracted border closure, hundreds of locals in the northern villages of Taplejung have been unable to meet their relatives in Tibet for four years now, the report said.
The Riu settlement of Dinggye County of Tibet lies just across the border – 35 km from the border. “But I have not been able to visit my maternal home for the past four years. The way to my maternal village is inaccessible as the Nepal-China border remains closed for a long time,” the report quoted Paten Sherpa, wife of Temba and a permanent resident of Olangchungola in ward 7 of Phaktanglung Rural Municipality, as saying.
Bhomo Sherpa of Mauwatar in Olangchungola share a similar ordeal. She was born in Tibet, married Bhujung of Nepal’s Bhotkhola Rural Municipality in Sankhuwasabha district. The couple later migrated to Mauwatar and began rearing yaks. While they are happy with their income and three children’s education, Bhomo’s only complaint is that the border has become a barrier preventing her from meeting her parents in Tibet.
Before the pandemic, both Temba and Bhujung frequently visited Tibetan markets for trade, transporting various goods on yaks. During their visits, they formed connections with Tibetan girls, whom they eventually brought back as life partners. “We never imagined that the border would close some day leaving us unable to visit our relatives,” Bhujung has said.
“We have to walk for five to seven hours just to make a phone call to my maternal relatives in Riu. It would take me less time to reach my maternal home than to get to Olangchungola. But the closed border is a barrier in my way,” Paten, who is in her mid-forties, has said.
Tsering Kipa, in her early seventies and living in Olangchungola with her husband Dandu Sherpa, also has a strong desire to reunite with her maternal family in Tibet, the report said. But the close of the border remains an agonizing barrier standing in her way.
Chheten Sherpa Lama, ward chairman of ward 7 of Phaktalung Rural Municipality, has said there are at least 18 women in Olangchungola and Yangma settlements who have their maternal homes in Tibet. He has said there are many Tibetan women married to Nepali men from Ghunsa, Phale, Mikkakhola among other settlements as well.
“We have discussions with the representatives of the (Dinggye County in Tibet) county. They tell us that the border will reopen once they get permission from the centre (Beijing). The government of Nepal should talk to the central government of China,” Chheten has said, adding his own efforts thus far have been unsuccessful.
The report said trans-border trade and animal husbandry had been hugely affected by the border closure. People living near the Nepal-China border rely on Tibet for their daily essential commodities, as the area has yet to be connected to Nepal’s national road network. Tibet also serves as a major market for them to sell a variety of products including medicinal herbs and domesticated animals, the report said.