WASHINGTON, DC: Tenzin Dorjee, Senior Researcher and Strategist at Tibet Action Institute, made a powerful statement during the United Nations' 18th Forum on Minority Issues, as reported by Phayul.
Addressing UN officials, diplomats and representatives from over 26 nations, including China, the seasoned activist began by recounting his personal journey as a Tibetan refugee in India, a minority student in Delhi and ultimately an immigrant in the United States.
These experiences, he explained, led him to understand that minorities "do not deplete a state's resources, nor do they jeopardize societal stability." Rather, they enhance societies through their contributions of food, culture, labour, innovation and, most critically, a unique perspective that provides "a window and a mirror" for nations to understand themselves better, as cited in the Phayul report.
Shifting focus from the global context to the pressing issues in Tibet, Dorjee stressed that Tibetans, Uyghurs and Southern Mongolians should not merely be seen as minorities in the traditional sense, but rather as peoples with an intrinsic right to self-determination as recognized by international law. (ANI)
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