Unraveling of A Livelihood

Tibetans in Nepal Watch Carpet Factories Succumb to Economic, Political Pressures

KATHMANDU, Nepal -- Thinley Sangmo was taught as a young girl in exile how to weave traditional Tibetan carpets. Her grandmother's thick hands would twist and spin spools of sheep's wool to depict the landscape and religious iconography of their homeland: hairy yaks lumbering up snow-swept mountains, puffy clouds and ponds of pink lotus flowers.

By the time she was 14, Sangmo was hunching over an upright loom for more than 12 hours a day. Sometimes she would fall asleep. She wanted to attend school, but as the oldest of seven children and as a Tibetan refugee living without full rights in Nepal, carpet weaving was her best option.

"It's very hard work. At first, I would cry," said Sangmo, now 36, with walnut-colored hair tucked into a bun. "At times, I was angry and sad about it. But I learned to appreciate it. Now, generations depend on these factories. This is all we know how to do."

Yet today her livelihood, and that of thousands of other Tibetan carpet weavers here, is under threat. The global economic crisis has spread to this landlocked Himalayan nation, among the poorest on Earth. Fewer tourists are coming to buy carpets, and tens of thousands of dollars in export orders have been canceled, industry experts say, leading to the closure of more than 500 factories.

The crisis facing Tibetan exiles in Nepal is exacerbated by the country's new government, led by Maoists, who joined the political mainstream in 2006 after waging a decade-long war. As China's influence over the government grows, Tibetans are experiencing a rise in harassment and extortion, more restrictions on their movements and greater difficulty securing education and jobs than ever before, according to a report released Tuesday by the International Campaign for Tibet. An estimated 20,000 Tibetans live in Nepal, which has centuries-old cultural and religious ties with Tibet.

"There has been change in the use of language by the Nepalese authorities to describe the Tibetan refugee flow through their country, suggesting a 'law and order' approach rather than the humanitarian approach that has characterized Nepal's treatment of Tibetans over the last decades," said Kate Saunders of the International Campaign for Tibet. "As a result of Chinese pressure on the Nepalese government, judicial system, civil society and media, Tibetans in Nepal are increasingly fearful, demoralized and at risk. "

Tibetan business and human rights leaders say that as the global economy worsened, Maoist militias and Nepalese police began "taxing" the Tibetan factories and workers, often through mafia-style shakedowns and threats. For many Tibetans still waiting for legal papers according them some civil rights in Nepal, there is nothing they can do to fight back as factories are forced out of business.

"The carpet industry is an economic and cultural lifeline for thousands of Tibetans and Nepalese," said Tinley Gatso, a Tibetan community leader in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital. "It was our culture, our art. When Nepal took us in, it was our big gift to Nepal. But now, so many carpets factories are closing. It's a very sad time, a worrying time."

Nepal is home to the world's second-largest Tibetan exile community after India. Buddhist prayer flags flutter along Kathmandu's alleyways and in its markets. Some of the world's most celebrated stupas -- whitewashed temples resembling enormous birthday cakes crossed with spaceships -- draw Buddhist monks and nuns and foreign tourists to the city's crowded squares. Recordings of the Buddhist mantra "Om mani padme hum," played by shopkeepers, echo through the narrow streets.

Since a wave of protests against Chinese rule that began in Tibet in March 2008, Nepal has been under increasing pressure from Beijing to take sterner measures against pro-Tibet demonstrations here, according to diplomats, government officials and human rights workers. A recent press statement by Nepal's Ministry of Home Affairs appears to support the tougher stance: "Nepal stands firm not to allow any external forces to use its soil against its neighbors and it sticks to its One China policy."

China accuses the Dalai Lama, the Buddhist spiritual leader, of trying to split Tibet from China. The Dalai Lama, who lives in exile in northern India, has said that although he desires greater autonomy for Tibet, he does not advocate independence.

The squeezing of Tibetans in Nepal is most vividly apparent in the carpet business.