By Phuntsok Yangchen
DHARAMSHALA, October 21: The Tibetan Prime Minister Dr Lobsang Sangay on Saturday called on the Dutch officials for their assistance to Tibetan asylum seekers in the country.
According to Tibet.net, an official website of the Tibetan government in exile, around 60 Tibetans living in Netherlands have problems with their application for political refuge. Some of them were said to have been living in the country for as long as 14 years without documents.
Speaking to over 300 Tibetans living in the area, Tibetan PM Sangay who is on his maiden visit to the Netherlands, re-affirmed the exile government’s commitment in Middle Way approach as a policy to resolve the crisis in Tibet and said that it seeks genuine autonomy for the Tibetan people within the framework of the Chinese constitution.
Sangay said that all the Tibetans should be grateful for the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s vision and wisdom and that it is because of His Holiness and the humility and integrity of the Tibetan people that Tibetans have international support.
“This is our greatest asset. We must not lose this. We must continue to maintain this very positive and important view of Tibetans. If we were to loss these principles, we’ll not only lose their support but also endanger the goodwill for the future generations of Tibetans,” Sangay added.
Yesterday, PM Sangay addressed the Catalonia Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and apprised them on the human rights situation in Tibet. He also met with Mrs Anna Simo I Castello, Vice-President of the Catalonia Parliament and Mr Jaume Ciurana, Deputy Mayor of Barcelona City.
Addressing the press at Barcelona Press Club, Sangay was asked about the Catalonia people’s demand for independence in Spain, to which replied, “We want what you already have, a genuine autonomy for Tibet”, indicating the the Catalonian struggle for independence was different from his administration’s call for autonomy.
PM Sangay who concluded his four nation Europe trip last night with a public talk at Case del Tibet- Tibet House, in Barcelona on Sunday, also visited Belgium and met with Tibetans there.
