{"id":4834,"date":"2025-09-29T12:06:55","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T10:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eu4tibet.org\/?post_type=news&p=4834"},"modified":"2025-10-08T12:14:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T10:14:14","slug":"young-tibet-advocates-gather-in-brussels-to-advance-tibetan-rights-with-eu-policymakers","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/eu4tibet.org\/el\/news\/young-tibet-advocates-gather-in-brussels-to-advance-tibetan-rights-with-eu-policymakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Tibet advocates gather in Brussels to advance Tibetan rights with EU policymakers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Participants in front of the European Parliament before their first meetings on 23 September. (Photo: Marco Ranieri)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Eleven young Tibetans and Tibet supporters from across Europe gathered in Brussels last week for the 2025 edition of the Tibetan Empowerment Days, a training and advocacy program coordinated by the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), with support from the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four-day event in the Belgian capital, also home to the EU\u2019s main institutions, opened on 22 September with a one-day capacity-building workshop at ICT office, where participants \u2013 coming from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands \u2013 deepened their knowledge about the EU and its human rights policies and the current situation in Tibet. They also took part in communications exercises that strengthened their confidence in advocating for the Tibetan cause clearly and persuasively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They then took their concerns and messages directly to policymakers through meetings with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) \u2013 in particular members of the Delegation for relations with China, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Subcommittee on Human Rights \u2013 and of the Belgian Federal Parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While receiving the advocates along with other members of the European Parliament\u2019s Tibet Friendship Group, Vice-Chair MEP Hannes Heide lauded the group for their commitment: \u201cYour generation carries the responsibility of keeping Tibet\u2019s culture, identity, and struggle for human rights alive. Your voices inspire us and remind Europe why standing with Tibet is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their meetings, participants thanked the European Parliament for its long-time support for Tibet and put forward concrete recommendations to policymakers on ways in which it could do more for Tibetans\u2019 rights, culture and language \u2014 currently under severe threat under China\u2019s assimilationist policies, such as the colonial boarding school system and closure of private Tibetan language schools. Welcoming the recently adopted resolution on religious freedom<\/a> in Tibet, they urged the European Parliament to go further, and to press the EU and its Member States to impose targeted sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for interference in the succession of the Dalai Lama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants also raised concerns about China\u2019s campaign of transnational repression against the Tibetan diaspora in Europe. They also encouraged the European Parliament to address Tibet not only as a human rights issue but as a strategic and environmental priority for Europe \u2014 particularly considering the ecological vulnerability of the Tibetan Plateau, known as the \u201cThird Pole,\u201d and China\u2019s ongoing campaign of transnational repression impacting Tibetans and others in Europe and globally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In view of the upcoming visit of a delegation from the Chinese National People\u2019s Congress to the European Parliament \u2014 the first such official visit in seven years \u2014 participants also discussed the implications of this renewed diplomatic engagement, and asked MEPs to raise Tibet-related human rights and environmental concerns during their discussions with their Chinese counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EU policymakers engaged with interest and provided constructive feedback to the participants, and ICT will follow up to build on this engagement in the coming months. The program also allowed participants to experience European democracy firsthand, while honing their skills, expanding their network, and strengthening their effectiveness as Tibet advocates and activists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quotes from participants:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n