来源：自由亚洲电台
按照新的审批程序，中国当局几乎不再给藏人签发旅行文件。
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RFA
图左：有关更改藏人护照申请护照程序的西藏自治区文件；图右：中国针对所有公民申请护照程序的政府文件。 |
据消息人士透露，由于将近一年前西藏自治区（TAR）当局实施了严格的旅行管制，几乎任何藏人都得不到可以出国旅行的护照。
按照2012年4月西藏自治区当局颁行的护照审批办法，想要出国旅行的藏人必须完成极为严苛的——有些甚至是歧视性的——审批程序，而这些程序的实施，明显是由于北京方面试图压制藏人出国旅行。
自由亚洲电台藏语部（RFA's Tibetan
Service）得到的一份西藏自治区的政府文件记录了这些审批办法。在2012年1月，很多藏人去印度参加时轮（Kalachakra）法会后，西藏自治区当局实施了新的护照审批办法。这次时轮法会由流亡的西藏精神领袖达赖喇嘛尊者主持，中国领导人污蔑他是一个“分裂分子”。
这一变化是在西藏自治区和其他藏区发生了质疑中国统治的自焚抗议之后，中国当局强化安保措施的一部分。
流亡西藏驻台湾办公室的研究人员索朗多吉（Sonam Dorjee）告诉自由亚洲电台藏语部：“从去年的二三月以来，就没有给藏人签发过新的中国护照，这个变化对西藏境内的藏人是一个沉重打击。”
另一个不愿透露名字并在西藏境内有关系的消息来源说，他只知道在中国政府当官的藏人可以得到中国当局签发的护照。
这位消息人士说：“在西藏自治区没有任何藏人个人能拿到新的中国护照，除了少数藏人官员因公派原因能够拿到护照，而这些人回来之后还要上交护照。”
与汉人不同，藏人要想得到护照需要面临“非常复杂和困难的程序”，索朗多吉说。“为了让申请得到通过，他们可能需要等上好几年，过程中或许还得进行种种贿赂。”
“对于绝大多数没有官方关系的藏人而言，他们根本拿不上护照，”索朗多吉说。
他说，西藏自治区的护照审批办法与中国政府颁发的有关规定存在矛盾，中国政府的规定要求有关部门在申请人提出申请后的15天之内签发护照，如果申请未获通过，则要求在6天内通知申请人并说明原因。
“在同一个国家应该对所有的公民实施同样的规定和程序，但是在中国，事实并非如此，”多吉说。
首先，藏人们要将他们的护照申请递交给居住地的地方政府官员。这些申请文件要经过村、乡（区）、县的各级审核，最终才能送到西藏自治区公安局。
“即便是通过了漫长的审核过程，申请人还被要求签署一份文件，保证在出国之后不会从事任何‘非法活动’和‘危害国家’的活动，”多吉说。
藏人当中即使最终拿到护照并出国旅行，但必须在返回以后的七天之内将旅行文件送交有关当局。
他们还必须向当地警方报告并接受询问——而对于汉人则没有这样的要求，他们的护照有效期通常是5到10年，并且无需在从国外返回后交还护照。
多吉说：“这说明尽管大家都被认为是中国公民，但是西藏自治区的护照申请人并未拥有中国赋予其他申请人的同样权利。”
观察人士贡布（Gonpo）说，由于中国当局从去年开始在全国范围实施电子护照计划，西藏自治区的藏人必须上交他们的护照，哪怕护照还没有到期，并且要接受彻底调查和甄别。
他说，很多拥有护照的藏人在从尼泊尔回到西藏时，因更换电子护照而被滞留在边境。
一位在一月的第一周从西藏到尼泊尔首都加德满都的藏人商人说，一年前在印度参加时轮法会的藏人们的护照均被当局收缴，至今也没能拿回来。
他说，“所有参加了时轮法会回去的人，护照都被没收，当时保证会换发新的护照，但据我所知，这些人从来就没有得到新护照。”
那些往返于拉萨和尼泊尔之间的藏人商人也担心他们的护照会被收缴。
一位住在尼泊尔的藏人居民说，事实上，持中国护照前往尼泊尔的藏人人数近期明显下降，已经影响到了藏人在尼泊尔的生意。
有大约20000名西藏难民住在尼泊尔，北京方面已经要求加德满都限制他们的活动。
由自由亚洲电台藏语部报道。藏语翻译多吉达珠（Dorjee Damdul）。英文编写帕拉梅瓦朗•潘努都瑞（Parameswaran
Ponnudurai）。
2013-01-20
Chinese authorities are hardly issuing travel documents to Tibetans under new procedures.
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RFA
A copy of the cover of the TAR document (L) with revised passport application procedures for Tibetans and the Chinese government document (L) with application procedures for all citizens.
Hardly any Tibetan has been issued with an international passport since Chinese authorities introduced tough travel rules nearly a year ago in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), according to sources.
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Under the April 2012 procedures issued by the TAR authorities, prospective Tibetan travelers are subject to arduous—and what some call discriminatory—procedures in an apparent attempt by Beijing to clamp down on their travels abroad.
The procedures, contained in an official TAR document obtained by RFA's Tibetan Service, were introduced after many Tibetans attended the "Kalachakra" religious gathering in India in January 2012 presided by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who is reviled by Chinese leaders as a separatist.
The move was also part of tightened security measures following self-immolation protests by Tibetans questioning Chinese rule in the TAR and Tibetan-populated areas.
“Since February or March of last year, there has been no issuing of new Chinese passport to Tibetans and those in the TAR were hit hard by the move," Office of Tibet in Taiwan researcher Sonam Dorjee told RFA's Tibetan service.
Another source, with contacts in Tibet and speaking on condition of anonymity, said he was only aware of Tibetan officials being issued passports by Chinese authorities.
"No new Chinese passports have been issued to Tibetan individuals in TAR, except for a few Tibetan officials who received the passports for official purpose and which they need to hand back upon their return," the source said.
Unlike Chinese nationals, Tibetans face a "very complicated and difficult process" to obtain passports, Dorjee said. "They may have to wait for years for their applications to be processed and may have to pay bribes along the way."
"For most Tibetans with no official connections, they cannot get a passport at all," Dorjee said.
Contradiction
This is a contradiction of the law as the Chinese government, under national regulations, require the authorities to issue passports within 15 days after an application is made and to notify unsuccessful applicants within six days with the reasons why their applications were denied, he said.
“There should be one set of regulations and procedure for all the citizens of the nation but for China, it is not the case," Dorjee said.
Tibetans have to first submit their passport applications to local government offices in the areas they resided. The documents will be scrutinized at the village, district and county levels and then finally by the TAR police bureau.
"Even after the lengthy process, the applicant is required to sign a document guaranteeing to the effect that he would not engage in any "illegal activities" or activities that are "harmful to the nation" while abroad, Dorjee said.
Even if Tibetans are able to obtain passports and get to travel abroad, they have to surrender the travel document to the authorities within seven days on their return home.
They also have to report to the local police and subject themselves to interrogations—requirements not imposed on Chinese nationals whose passports are usually valid for five to 10 years and not collected back on their return from abroad.
“It shows that even though all are considered Chinese citizens, TAR passport applicants do not have the same rights as guaranteed in China for other applicants," Dorjee said.
Quandary
Tibetans already with passports are also in a quandary.
When the Chinese authorities began implementing a nationwide electronic passport scheme last year, Tibetans in TAR had to surrender their passports even before expiration and were subject to thorough investigation and screening procedures, according to Tibetan watcher Gonpo.
Many Tibetans with passports wanting to re-enter Tibet from Nepal were stranded in the border due to the change to electronic passports, he said.
A Tibetan businessman who arrived in the Nepali capital Kathmandu in the first week of January from Tibet said many Tibetans who had attended the Kalachakra festival in India a year ago had their passports seized by the authorities and have not got them back.
"Passports for all Kalachakra returnees are confiscated with the assurances that new passports will be issued, but to my knowledge no new passports have ever been issued to them," he said.
Tibetan businessmen shuttling between the TAR capital Lhasa and Nepal are also concerned their passports would be confiscated.
In fact, the number of Tibetans travelling to Nepal with Chinese passports is significantly down in recent days, impacting Tibetan businesses in Nepal, said a Tibetan resident in Nepal.
There are about 20,000 Tibetan refugees in Nepal, and Beijing has urged Kathmandu to restrict their activities.
Reported by RFA's Tibetan Service. Translated by Dorjee Damdul. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.
