The government has raised its travel alert for Nepal to the second-highest "orange" alert level, calling on people to avoid unnecessary travel following deadly anti-corruption protests that ousted the government earlier this month.
The decision to raise the travel warning was made on Wednesday last week, after a round of large protests and demonstrations in Nepal on Monday and Tuesday, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Director-General Michael Lin (林昭宏) said.
Photo: AP
After the protests caused injuries and deaths, Nepalese authorities temporarily declared curfews in parts of major cities.
There were two Taiwanese tour groups in Nepal during the unrest, and so far, all 47 members of the two groups have safely returned to Taiwan, Lin said.
About a dozen overseas Taiwanese and their relatives in Nepal are also safe, he added.
Now that the situation has stabilized, Sushila Karki, former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Nepal, has been sworn in as the country's interim prime minister, Lin said.
Nepal is set to hold general elections in March next year, Lin said, adding that Taiwan's government would continue to closely monitor developments.
In the event of an emergency, Taiwanese in Nepal can call Taiwan's representative office in India in charge of Nepal affairs on its emergency hotline at +91 9810-642-658, or the ministry's Taipei headquarters' 24-7 toll-free emergency hotline at 0800-085-095.
Under the ministry's four-color travel alert system, the lowest level is gray, followed by yellow, orange and red.
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