Nepalis stranded in Kerung are returning from Tatopani, 800 people have noted the name

Image source, Xinhua/RSS

According to the Nepal Police, 114 Nepalis who were stopped at Kerung in Tibet after the severe flood in Rasuwagadhi reached Nepal through Tatopani crossing on Thursday.

Lakshmi Prasad Niraula, Consul General of the Nepali Consulate General in Lhasa informed that most of the Nepalese who reached Tibet with visas for Mansarovar pilgrimage and business have returned home. But the Nepalese who reached Kerung with temporary passes are now about to return.

There is a provision for Nepalese who go from Rasuwagadhi crossing to Kerung to take goods, load-unload and work in hotels and restaurants.

"Those who left the first shipment from here today will probably reach Kathmandu by evening. We will continue to send after this," Niraula said on the telephone from Lhasa.

After the Rasuwagadhi crossing and Pasang Lhamu highway were eroded due to floods, the Nepalese who reached Kerung with temporary passes were stranded.

Photo source, Reuters

According to Consul General Niraula, China has facilitated Nepalese to reach Tatopani border in Sindhupalchok.

Nepalis who go for work or shopping with a temporary permit can only go within 30 km towards Tibet. The Chinese government had to help the people stranded in Tibet after the floods who did not have passports and visas to return to Nepal.

"They are going to be sent to Nepal through the Tatopani border after issuing a temporary permit," Niraula said.

According to the Nepali Consul General, there are estimated to be 1,600 Nepalis in Kerung. Among them, 800 people have nominated to return to Nepal, he said.

"Nepalese who have come to work in hotels and restaurants for a long time have not decided to return now. Most of them have come to pick up goods, come for shopping and work as load-unloaders," Niraula said.

China allows Nepali trucks carrying goods imported from China to go to Kerung, which is about 27 km from the border point.

President of Nepal Himalayan Cross Border Trade Association Ramhari Karki said that 176 trucks and containers and 80 drivers have been stopped towards Kerung.

"There are Nepalese working in restaurants and shops. There are also Nepalese working in loading and unloading. We have received information that there are 80 drivers," he said.

Earlier, the Nepali Embassy in Beijing had published some telephone numbers to contact the Nepalese stranded in China's Tibet region to facilitate their return home.

According to Consul General Niraula, Nepalis who have reached Kerung with a temporary pass and want to return home have been asked to contact the local administration and write down their names. After that, Niraula informed that the Chinese government has made arrangements to bring them to the Tatopani border in a bus.

According to Karki, president of the Border Trade Association, the Nepali trucks stuck towards Kerung have not yet been given permission to bring them through the Tatopani crossing.

"They are saying that Tatopani is closed. Take it from Korla. We have to go far to bring us from Korala, we have said that we should allow from Tatopani," said Karki.

According to the Consulate General, the Nepalese who reached Tibet with visas for Mansarovar pilgrimage and other purposes have already returned home through Lhasa and Tatopani crossings.

Floods in the Bhotekoshi River passing through Tibet swept away the border offices at Rasuwagadi, including the immigration offices on both sides of Nepal and China.

The Immigration Office of Nepal had earlier released the details of 35 Nepalis entering China from Rasuwagadhi Immigration Office before the flood on the morning of August 10th.

Niraula said that he was informed by the Chinese side that 104 Nepalis were at the border crossing that day.

Most of them were traveling to China with temporary passes. "But the situation here is not yet known," he said.

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