The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, weighed in on the refugee crisis telling German media that there are “too many” refugees in Europe.
In an interview published Tuesday with Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, the Dalai Lama said: “Europe, for example Germany, cannot become an Arab country. Germany is Germany. There are so many that in practice it becomes difficult.”
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He added that refugees should only be hosted in Europe on a temporary basis.
“The goal should be to return them and help them to rebuild their own countries,” he explained.
In 2015, Germany took in more than one million people fleeing the ongoing war in Syria and the spillover into Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries in the Middle East. The growing number of refugees has also led to a rise in Islamophobia across and anti-migrant sentiment across Europe.
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The statement from the Buddhist spiritual leader is unexpected given the Dalai Lama is himself a refugee. Following the 1959 Tibetan Uprising, the Dalai Lama led tens of thousands to India.
An estimated 120,000 Tibetans live in India, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and those born in the country can now vote.
However, during the interview the Dalai Lama did convey some compassion when speaking about refugees.
“When we look into the face of every single refugee, especially the children and women, we can feel their suffering,” he said. “The goal should be that they return and help rebuild their countries.”
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