×
GreekEnglish

×
  • Politics
  • Diaspora
  • World
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Cooking
Saturday
06
Dec 2025
weather symbol
Athens 12°C
  • Home
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • World
  • Diaspora
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Mediterranean Cooking
  • Weather
Contact follow Protothema:
Powered by Cloudevo
> Politics

Dalai Lama: “Europe could become Muslim or African if migrants are not returned to their countries”

"The aim is that they should eventually be able to return to rebuild their own countries. That has been my view right from the beginning"

Newsroom June 27 08:00

The Dalai Lama has claimed that Europe could become ‘Muslim or African’ if refugees who have been taken in are not then sent back to their home countries.

The Buddhist spiritual leader, who has been living as a refugee in India since fleeing Tibet in 1959, said only a ‘limited number’ of migrants should be allowed to remain.

During an interview with the BBC, the Dalai Lama added that refugees who have fled to Europe should be given skills before being returned.

He said Europe was under an obligation to take in those who needed help, but ultimately they should be returned to their homelands.

The 83-year-old said: ‘European countries should take these refugees and give them education and training, and the aim is – return to their own land with certain skills.’

When asked what should happen to those who want to stay in their adopted countries, he replied: ‘A limited number is OK. But the whole of Europe [will] eventually become Muslim country – impossible. Or African country, also impossible.’

The interviewer asked about his own refugee status, the Dalai Lama repeated his earlier claims that ‘Europe is for Europeans’.

He added: ‘They themselves, I think [are] better in their own land. Better [to] keep Europe for Europeans.’

It is not the first time the monk has made such comments. In a speech last year in Malmo, Sweden, the Tibetan Buddhist said refugees should return to help rebuilt their own countries.

He said: ‘Receive them [migrants], help them, educate them, but ultimately they should develop their own country. I think Europe belongs to the Europeans.’

Last September when he made a similar comments after being asked about refugees during his public talk in Rotterdam, the Dalai Lama issued a statement in response.

He said: ‘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, including mechanical training, for the young people.

‘The aim is that they should eventually be able to return to rebuild their own countries. That has been my view right from the beginning.

‘For example, we Tibetans took shelter in India, but most Tibetans want to return to Tibet when the situation there has changed. Each country has its own culture, language, way of life, and it is better for people to live in their own country. That is my view.’

In the recent BBC interview, the Dalai Lama, who is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, went on to say he admired the European Union as a method of avoiding global conflicts.

He said: I’m an outsider, but I feel [it’s] better [to] remain in the union.’

EU figures from last year state around 4.4 per cent of the bloc’s 512 million population are non-EU citizens.

The statistics said that 2.4 million migrants entered the EU from non-EU countries in 2017. There arr thought to be around 70 million refugees worldwide.

When asked about President Donald Trump he replied that his time in the White House ‘lacked moral principle’ and that his America first policy was ‘wrong’.

The Buddhist monk has made India his home since fleeing the capital Lhasa in 1959 during the Tibetan uprising.

He set up a government-in-exile in Dharamsala in northern India and launched a campaign to reclaim Tibet from China, which gradually evolved into an appeal for greater autonomy – known as the so-called ‘middle way’ approach.

India, which granted him asylum in 1959, has supported the Tibetan leader but of late the government has maintained a distance, citing diplomatic sensitivities.

In 2015 he said that if he was succeeded by a female Dalai Lama she would have to be attractive, despite declaring himself to be a feminist.

Speaking to the BBC he again said while laughing: ‘If a female Dalai Lama comes, she should be more attractive.’

>Related articles

Papastavrou: The ministerial meeting of the Greece, Cyprus, Israel and the USA group in Washington in April

European Commission handbook depicts the East Aegean islands and the Dodecanese as Turkish

Anger in Cyprus over the UN Secretary General’s envoy: She described the occupied territories as the “Turkish” side of Cyprus

On international Women’s Day this year in March he called for more women to be given leadership roles instead of men who are ‘celebrated for killing their opponents’.

He posted: ‘Women have been shown to be more sensitive to others’ suffering, whereas, warriors celebrated for killing their opponents are almost always men.

Source: dailymail

Ask me anything

Explore related questions

#africa#african#Dalai Lama#diplomacy#Enoch Powell#europe#illegal immigration#islam#islamic expansionism#jihad#muslims#politics#population replacement#refugees
> More Politics

Follow en.protothema.gr on Google News and be the first to know all the news

See all the latest News from Greece and the World, the moment they happen, at en.protothema.gr

> Latest Stories

Papastavrou: The ministerial meeting of the Greece, Cyprus, Israel and the USA group in Washington in April

December 5, 2025

European Commission handbook depicts the East Aegean islands and the Dodecanese as Turkish

December 5, 2025

Anger in Cyprus over the UN Secretary General’s envoy: She described the occupied territories as the “Turkish” side of Cyprus

December 5, 2025

From MAGA to Make Europe Great Again, with support for patriotic parties and a “stop” on mass immigration – How to stop the onslaught of China

December 5, 2025

Billionaire Andrej Babis reappointed Prime Minister of the Czech Republic on Tuesday

December 5, 2025

Axios: Trump will announce by Christmas the new governance structure for Gaza

December 5, 2025

Bolsonaro backs his eldest son as presidential candidate in the 2026 elections

December 5, 2025

US Ultimatum to the EU: Take on the majority of NATO spending by 2027

December 5, 2025
All News

> Greece

Widespread power outages in Sparta and surrounding villages due to severe weather

“The Fire Service was called to rescue people trapped in elevators, as a serious malfunction is believed to have occurred in the power grid”

December 5, 2025

Marinakis: There can be no dialogue with the farmers with incidents like those outside Macedonia airport

December 5, 2025

Clashes with shoving and tear gas between police and farmers who tried to block the entrance of ‘Macedonia’ Airport — watch the video

December 5, 2025

The Supreme Court plenary will rule on the Swiss franc loans

December 5, 2025

Evelina Skitsko revealed she was diagnosed with colon cancer: “They had told me I had the worst case, it was stage two”

December 5, 2025
Homepage
PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION POLICY COOKIES POLICY TERM OF USE
Powered by Cloudevo
Copyright © 2025 Πρώτο Θέμα