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In Nepal, Invisible Eye has transformed Tibetan life.
Cameras aren’t just machines strung on thick bundles of wires that wander down narrow streets Kathmandu In Nepal. He is a presence, an invisible watcher whom Tibetans have learned to fear.
In the city’s refugee settlements, once a haven for the community, every lens is a warning. men Remove their curtains before speaking. Prayer rooms remain closed, their devotions silent behind wood and cloth. Flags that once flew freely are now held together by barbed wire.
Nepal is one of at least 150 countries Sugar Companies now sell monitoring equipment. An Associated Press investigation found that these systems have become the focus of global pressure on Beijing by providing cash-strapped governments like the Himalayan kingdom with a cheap but intrusive form of policing, which uses cameras, algorithms and data as force multipliers for control.
In Nepal, the technology is also used to monitor and prevent pro-independence activities of Tibetans.
Near Nepal’s border with Tibet, the road is packed with snow as it winds past villages where locals say Chinese authorities have pressured them to remove pictures of the Dalai Lama. At Lo Manthang, long a sanctuary for those trying to cross the mountains, a huge surveillance installation on the Chinese side now keeps an eye on the mountain passes below.
The message is clear: Himalaya no longer provides cover.
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This is a documentary photo story curated by AP Photo editors.