Robinson, speaking in Beijing during a final visit to China before stepping down from her post next month, said she had brought up 13-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima with Chinese officials.

In 1995, the boy was picked by exiled Tibetan leader Dalai Lama as the 11th Panchen Lama, the second highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism.

Officials told Robinson the boy is healthy and that his parents wanted him to have privacy, she said.

"I urged that perhaps his parents could come forward and at least that there would be some way of verifying the situation which continues to be a very real concern," Robinson said.

She added that the UN office had received thousands of communications seeking an investigation into the whereabouts of the boy.

Beijing refused to accept Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and has kept him and his family at an undisclosed location since he was unveiled as the Panchen Lama, one of whose functions is to lead the search for a new reincarnation of the Dalai Lama.

Chinese authorities instead installed another boy, Gyancain Norbu, and has closely controlled his activities, including religious functions and schooling in the apparent hope of molding him into someone they can influence in the future.

China has ruled Tibet in an often brutal fashion since it occupied the Himalayan territory in 1951, and has been accused of seeking to eradicate Tibet's culture through repression and a flood of ethnic Chinese immigration.

The Dalai Lama and his followers fled to India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. The spiritual leader won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, while Beijing considers him to be a dangerous separatist.

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Last updated: 21-August-2002