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Inquiry call after Tibetan Buddhist monk refused entry to territory

Other News Materials 5 August 2008 06:14 (UTC +04:00)

Relatives of a Tibetan monk refused entry to Hong Kong have called for an inquiry into the incident, a media report said Tuesday, the dpa reported.

The monk, Pemba Sherpa, 44, was making his sixth trip to Hong Kong on Sunday, when he was detained at Hong Kong airport for several hours before being sent back to Singapore, the Standard said.

The monk, from the Drukpa Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, which is different from that followed by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, was travelling from Kolkata via Singapore to Hong Kong, where he planned to apply for a Taiwan visa.

During his detention, the monk was only allowed to make a two- minute telephone call to his cousin, Hong Kong resident Phurba Sherpa, before being put on an aircraft and returned to Singapore.

Sherpa said that his cousin had visited Hong Kong several times and went last year to China for 20 days without any problem.

An Immigration Department spokesman said that the department would not comment on individual cases. He said it acted within the law and would only refuse entry "if necessary" and after taking all factors into account.

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