Nepal receives its illegally exported wooden artifacts from US

On Aug 8, 2023, the Embassy of Nepal sent 40 wooden artifacts received from the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to Nepal by Qatar Airways. The Department of Archaeology of the Government of Nepal will receive these artifacts in Kathmandu on Aug 12, 2023.

These illegally exported artifacts of Nepal were confiscated in Hawaii by the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in August 2010. The Government of Nepal had officially requested the Government of the United States to return these objects to Nepal in 2011.

The Embassy of Nepal had received these artifacts from the HSI amidst a ceremony organized at the Embassy on May 11, 2023. Four, out of 39 engraved and painted wooden panels and a carved wooden shrine, were randomly selected for display during the handover ceremony. The Embassy of Nepal had displayed these artifacts again during Nepal tourism promotion program organized at the Embassy on August 1, 2023.

Qatar Airways Cargo sponsored the shipping of these artifacts from the Dulles International Airport (IAD), Washington D.C. to the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), Kathmandu. The Embassy expresses its sincere gratitude to Qatar Airways Cargo for accepting the Embassy’s request and sending these artifacts to Nepal. The Embassy is particularly thankful to Mr. Rishi Punnakhar Dhakal, Honorary Consul General of Nepal in San Diego, California for working with Qatar Airways in this regard.

As part of its efforts to recover and repatriate the lost and stolen heritages of Nepal, the Embassy has been actively engaged with the relevant agencies of government of Nepal, Homeland Security Investigations of the Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, US Custom and Border Protection (CBP), art researchers, heritage recovery campaigners, media and individuals. The Embassy expresses its sincere thanks to all these agencies and individuals in these efforts.

With this shipment, the Embassy has so far returned 47 artifacts of historical, cultural and religious importance to Nepal since April 2022.