UN Agency Lauds India For Opening Borders To Refugees; Specifically Tibetans, Sri Lankan Tamils

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), on April 26, praised India for assisting refugees and opening the country's borders to minimize their difficulties. The UN body stated that Indian has a long history of humanitarian gestures.

Gillian Triggs, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner, said people who are compelled to escape from their homes or are dislocated need to be treated with dignity. For the same, she lauded India's efforts in opening the country's borders to refugees, specifically protecting the Tibetans and Sri Lankan Tamils.

Triggs is on a four-day visit to India and made the statement at the National Gandhi Museum during the inauguration of the Charkha exhibition there.

She said, "One of the first reasons that I wanted to come to India was the fact that India has a very long history of support for refugees. India opened its borders, and it protected many people over many centuries," quoted NDTV.

Inauguration Of Charkha Exhibition

During the inauguration event, while linking Mahatma Gandhi's use of the spinning wheel (charkha) to self-reliance, she said that people who are forced to flee from their homes who are displaced should be treated with regality and a part of that pursuit of dignity is self-reliance.

Supported Afghanistan and Myanmar Refugees

Further appreciating India's efforts toward refugees, Triggs said that they value India's contribution to the protection of people in need and also value their contribution to communities that they make as refugees. She sighted a recent example of Afghanistan and Myanmar, where India supported the refugees fleeing from the war-torn zones.

Triggs said the UNHCR has the directive to offer protection to those who have been compelled to flee. She said that the refugees are among the most vulnerable in any country as they escape with nothing and depend entirely on us to gain/ regain self-reliance or self-sufficiency, which is very important.

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