Pelosi calls for peaceful future for Tibetan refugees

DHARAMSALA - US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi Sunday called for a “more secure, just and peaceful future” for Tibetan and other refugees around the world.

“In India and Nepal, there are approximately 70,000 Tibetan refugees who have escaped Chinese repression over the dangerous Himalayan mountain passes. There continues to be no resolution in sight as the Chinese government will not engage directly with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in a peaceful dialogue,” Pelosi said in a statement on World Refugee Day (June 20).

Since Chinese troops took control of Tibet in the 1950s, Tibetans have been fleeing to India and Nepal seeking religious and other freedoms.

“On Sunday (World Refugee Day), we again bring attention to the plight of men, women and children all over the world who have been forced to flee their homes for safety,” said Pelosi, according to a post on the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) website.

The United Nations estimates that there are at present more than 43 million refugees and internally displaced persons worldwide. Sudan has the largest refugees - 2.6 million internally displaced and another 25,000 from Darfur in Chad.

“Today, we must honour the people of Sudan, Tibet and so many other refugees around the world who have been uprooted from their homes by helping to build a more secure, just and peaceful future,” Pelosi said in the statement issued by her office in Washington.