Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama greets the audience in Ahoy Convention Centre in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on 17 September 2018. OHHDL/Olivier Adam
By Lobsang Wangyal
McLEOD GANJ, India, 18 September 2018
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has applauded the European countries for welcoming refugees.
However, the international press took his words out of context in headlines implying that Dalai Lama was saying “Europe belongs to Europeans, refugees should go back home.”
Speaking at a conference on 12 September in Sweden’s third-largest city of Malmo, home to a large immigrant population, the Dalai Lama said that Europe was “morally responsible” for helping “a refugee really facing danger against their life.”
He told European countries to “receive them, help them, educate them… but ultimately they should develop their own country.”
“I think Europe belongs to the Europeans,” he said.
The headlines changing his meaning led to comments calling him a “bigot” and “racist” on the Internet.
One tweet read: “He said that all refugees should be repatriated, and not consider their displacement to be long term but return as soon as humanly possible to rebuild.”
Another tweet: “The Dalai Lama said that refugees should return to their native countries to rebuild them. Should the Dalai [sic] not lead by example by returning to Tibet.”
During his public talk in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, on 16 September, the Dalai Lama clarified his statements by saying, “When refugees from other countries have come to Europe, it’s wonderful that Germany and other European countries have given them help.”
“However, I think that most of those refugees think of their own lands as home, but just now there is lots of killing, bullying, and suffering there. That’s why they escaped. So, in the short term, European countries should provide them with shelter, and should particularly provide children with facilities for education and training.”
He said that each country has its own culture, language, and way of life, and it is better for people to live in their own country. His feeling was that refugees should eventually be able to return to rebuild their own countries, just like Tibetans, who took shelter in India, but most Tibetans want to return to Tibet when the situation there has changed.
“Indian belongs to Indians” But –
99% of Tibetans born in India are not returning to Tibet, even if Tibet gets full independence.
One friend quipped, ‘ Why the heck should I go to Tibet? I have no home, no relative. I’m living and dying in India.’
Also, 95% of newcomer Tibetans aren’t returning to Tibet because they’ve built a life in India or west in the last 20-30 years.
So, both groups are only VISITING tibet, but want to be based in Europe or USA. Only 2% want to return and rebuilt the country.
so, does this make HHDL’s statement empty and contradictory?
Nima Sangpo La, in the past on different occasions, different U.S. presidents have said different things regarding the status of Tibet, and some using double negatives when defining its status such as “We are not saying Tibet is not part of China.”
However, I do remember that in the 1990s the U.S. Congress passed legislation declaring Tibet to be an “occupied country.”
Politics is politics – we all know that. Things do change and political change is mercurial depending on political climate, situation, self interest, etc. Although the United States is suffering from financial deficit, it does not suffer from moral deficit. I believe the US is governed by principles to think locally, and act globally. To be living in the land of the free, I feel lucky.
God bless America.
Chewang Norkhang la, I have a question for you. Why the United States always reiterated that Tibet is part of China. US never says Tibet is for Tibetans. Your only homework is to make clear this first with US and then write whatever your think in your mind. We always wanted to see “Tibet is for Tibetans” in the US political issue.
“Europe belongs to Europeans.”
Translation: Tibet belongs to Tibetans.
Journalits misinterpreted Dalai Lama’s message. He is a big supporter of refugees. His english is so bad though.
R u serious ? His English is good enough to convey any complicated Buddhist philosophy to these foreigners . May b compare to your excellent English , his may b bad but to me his English is not only simple but easy to understand. So save your conclusion please.
Dalai Lama spoke the truth. What is so shocking about that statement “Europe is for Europeans”? Isn’t Tibet for Tibetans, China for Chinese and Africa for Africans? People calling HHDl “racist” and “bigot” do not know what racism and bigotry is. These words are so overused that they have lost their meaning. Anyone you don’t agree with you label them as racist. That’s it.