Dalai Lama Sparks Outrage, Says Refugees Should Go Home
Recently at a conference the Dalai Lama, a renowned spiritual and world leader, said that "Europe Belongs to Europeans" and that refugees should go home and rebuild their own countries. The comment was made following large gains by Sweden Democrats, who are considered to be Sweden's "far right party" Naturally this comment sparked outrage with people calling the Dalai Lama a "bigot of the first order" due the comments similarities to nationalist talking points. But if Europe does not belong to Europeans then who does it belong to?
Support the show (http://timcast.com/donate)
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Recently, at a conference in Sweden, the Dalai Lama, famous spiritual and world leader, said, Europe belongs to the Europeans, and that refugees should go home to rebuild their own countries.
Naturally, this sparked a controversy.
Many people on the left are saying that this is echoing sentiment of nationalists and the alt-right.
They're asking whether or not the Dalai Lama is racist for suggesting that Europe belongs to the Europeans.
And these comments come just after the Sweden Democrats have won large gains in Sweden in this past election.
The Sweden Democrats are considered to be the far-right or alt-right of Sweden.
So now we're seeing another instance of a rise of nationalism and populism in Europe.
It's not just Sweden.
We saw it in Italy.
Not too long ago, we saw Angela Merkel say that, yes, there are no go zones.
So the question becomes, why are we seeing this rise of nationalism?
Many people believe it is because of migrant crime.
And there are a lot of people that believe migrants don't cause crime, that migrants and refugees aren't actually going to commit more crimes than the average citizen.
But there is some evidence to suggest that's not true.
There is a study that suggests migrants do cause more crime for whatever reason.
So my question today is, does Europe really belong to the Europeans?
You can comment below and carry the conversation in the comments.
But first, let's take a look at exactly what the Dalai Lama said to better understand his point of view.
Europe belongs to the Europeans and suggests refugees return to native countries.
Ultimately, they should develop their own country, says spiritual leader.
The Dalai Lama has sparked anger after declaring that Europe belongs to the Europeans.
The Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader also said that refugees should return to their native countries and assist with developing them.
The 14th Dalai Lama was speaking at a conference in Malmö, Sweden, which is home to a large
immigrant population, according to the Business Times.
Receive them, help them, educate them.
But ultimately, they should develop their own country, the 83-year-old said when speaking
about refugees.
I think Europe belongs to the Europeans.
He was speaking in the aftermath of a divisive election in Sweden, in which a far-right party,
Swedish Democrats, made electoral gains, although they were beaten by the country's center-left
The Dalai Lama also said that Europe was morally responsible for helping a refugee really facing danger against their lives.
Social media users condemned the comments, calling the Dalai Lama a bigot of the first order and a hypocrite.
They highlight this post, Dali is a bigot of the first order.
The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, told an audience in Malmo that refugees should return to their
native countries to rebuild them.
Should the Dalai not lead by example by returning to Tibet?
Now I personally don't agree with the criticism, but it is based in reality.
During the 1959 Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama fled to India where he currently lives as a refugee.
So, while you could say, why doesn't he go back to his country to help rebuild it, at the same time, when he says that Europe has an obligation to help refugees, He's speaking from experience, and I believe he's being morally consistent.
He is being assisted in India as a refugee, and he's asking others to do the same.
The spiritual leader is followed by millions of Buddhists around the world.
He is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, but has made controversial comments about refugees in the past.
Europe, for example Germany, cannot become an Arab country, he said in an interview in 2016, in which he also said that there were too many refugees in Europe.
The Dalai Lama is a refugee himself.
He led thousands of his followers from Tibet to India in 1959, after the Tibetans protested against Chinese limits on their autonomy.
Is the Dalai Lama wrong?
In my opinion, I don't think so.
Now, the statement, Europe belonging to Europeans, can be interpreted in many different ways, but if it doesn't belong to Europeans, who does it belong to?
Many people believe that countries and land don't belong to anybody, and perhaps those are the people who are angry, but When we look at borders and governments, countries that actually exist, they literally do belong to Europeans because, listen, even a migrant who comes to France and becomes a citizen is now a European.
It's not like there are people in North Africa and Asia who are voting on what Europe is doing.
But I also agree with the Dalai Lama that refugees should go home to rebuild their countries, when it's safe.
I agree that countries should help refugees whose lives are in danger, educate them, help them, and then send them back and help them rebuild their countries.
You can't expect refugees to just come to your country and live there forever.
The goal is to help them reestablish a home, and I'm sure many of them want to go home and don't want to just abandon their lives.
But this isn't just about the Dalai Lama.
This is about the rise of nationalism and a similar sentiment among many Europeans.
From Politico, why Sweden's election was all about the rise of the far right.
Even if the Sweden Democrats didn't perform quite as well as some feared, the party's rise is still the story.
They say, what makes Sweden relevant to the outside world is not its famous stability, but its potential, as Trump noted, to descend into chaos, and more specifically, what that outcome could mean for the rest of us.
Even if the Sweden Democrats didn't perform quite as well as some feared, the party's rise is still the story.
In what has become a familiar pattern with populist movements across Europe, the Sweden Democrats' tactics left the establishment parties running scared.
The entire campaign revolved around the populist agenda, including the hot-button issue of migration.
We recently saw rioting and protest in Chemnitz, Germany.
People are angry about issues of migrant crime.
And the same thing is true for Sweden.
And the same thing is true for many European countries.
There are videos circulating of boats landing on the shores of the Mediterranean, and people running full speed into Europe.
So when the Dalai Lama says that refugees should eventually go home to rebuild their countries, that's actually not controversial in my opinion.
It's rather center or center-left relative to the argument.
The left is saying, bring the refugees in, give them space and resources and let them migrate.
The right is saying, close the borders and get rid of the migrants to lower the migrant crime.
And right there in the middle, you have the Dalai Lama saying, Europe should take care of these people, but eventually they should go home.
And I do find that to be reasonable.
But is it true that migrants are causing crime in Europe?
Well look, I went to Sweden after Trump made his infamous last night in Sweden comment.
And I found that yes, crime is up in Sweden, and many people do believe it is from refugees.
But the issue is, many people relate Sweden to the United States, or to their country.
And relative to the US, Sweden's crime is ridiculously low.
But relative to Sweden, their crime has gone up.
And there's a lot of gang violence.
Not too long before I went there, a young child was killed in a grenade attack.
So when these stories circulate, people are naturally going to be concerned about the violence and the escalation in violence.
And they're going to blame whoever is the focus of that story.
But it isn't just anecdotal.
It isn't just my experience.
This story from Newsweek earlier this year.
Migrants in Europe linked to soaring violence and crime in Germany, study finds.
And the reason I'm using Newsweek is that this is a left-leaning publication, even there acknowledging the crime exists and it is linked to migrants.
A German university found that a 10.4% increase in violent crimes was linked to an influx of migrants into the country's southern region.
The increase in crime took place in 2015 and 2016 at the height of the European migration crisis, when German Chancellor Angela Merkel ignored EU rules and allowed an open-door policy for migrants entering the state from war-torn Syria.
More than 90% of the 10.4% increase in reported violent crimes was attributed to young male migrants in Germany's southern state of Lower Saxony, according to a new study from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences.
A huge wave of migrants flooded into the European Union in 2015 from countries through Greece and Turkey that led to more than 1 million migrants applying for asylum in Germany.
When a story like that comes out, whether or not it's true, whether or not the study was accurate, people are going to say, listen, a university has said violent crime is because of these migrants.
And that it's not surprising at all that we see the protests in Chemnitz.
People are angry.
The crime has gone up and something needs to be done about it.
So naturally, they want to see change.
And if the government isn't going to do anything about it, they're going to vote in a new government.
And thus, we are seeing populism, nationalism, and anti-migration sentiment sweeping across Europe.
And this is the big struggle.
A university has said this is true in January.
And then you see these protests in Chemnitz.
Rioting.
Anger.
Citizens mad that migrants keep coming to their country and the crime is going up, and they have a university backing them up.
But when they go out and protest, they're accused of being far-right.
They're accused of being Nazis.
Many of the people protesting were simply holding pictures of victims of violent crime, and they want this problem solved.
Now it is true that a lot more data is needed, a lot more research needs to be done, but as long as these stories persist, people want something to be done about this.
Just because you are seeing stories about migrant crime in Europe or illegal immigrant crime in the US doesn't mean these people do commit more crimes.
It's actually a very complicated issue.
But we don't even need to talk about that because the issue is actually simple.
If these people weren't in these countries, then there wouldn't be crime in the first place.
So perhaps the issue is a better vetting process, perhaps the issue isn't as extreme as deporting everybody or closing your borders, but clearly something does need to be done, and the anger expressed by protesters, be it in the US or Europe, over migrant crime is valid.
You can tell them they're crazy, you can believe they're wrong, but the simple truth is this.
There are migrants who do commit crimes, and we should do something about it.
Just because someone is focused specifically on this issue doesn't mean they ignore other issues.
Problems?
They exist.
And if they aren't dealt with, we are going to see nationalism sweep across Europe, and this means bad things for the European Union.
Don't forget that people in the UK did vote for Brexit, and it's possible it could happen in other countries if their governments don't deal with the problems that people find relevant.
So long as these crimes keep happening.
More importantly, so long as universities are willing to publish studies that show violent crime is linked to migrants, you are going to see anger, and you're going to see people vote for those who vow to deal with the problem.
But let me know what you think in the comments below, and we'll keep the conversation going.
Is the Dalai Lama correct?
Does Europe belong to Europeans and should refugees go home?
Or do you think Europe should allow the refugees to stay and build a life in Europe?
Or, strangely I guess, do you think Europe doesn't belong to Europeans?
Comment and let me know what you think because maybe that's what you believe.
You can follow me on Twitter at TimCast.
Stay tuned, new videos every day at 4 p.m.
and new videos coming up on my second channel, youtube.com slash TimCast at 6 p.m.
