Dharamshala, 29th September 2023: Erica Terpstra, a former member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands and a longtime Tibet supporter, visited the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile earlier today and met with Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel and Deputy Speaker Dolma Tsering Teykhang.
During her meeting with the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, the former Dutch lawmaker shared her political background and explained how His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s preaching of love and compassion has inspired her to support the just cause of Tibet over the past many years.
The former lawmaker was briefed on the grim situation of Tibetans inside of Tibet where they continue to face cultural genocide, arbitrary detentions, custodial deaths, and other atrocities under the occupation of China.
The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker answered questions of the former lawmaker on how Tibetans pass the legacy of Tibetan values to younger generation Tibetans through Tibetan community centres across the globe.
She was also briefed on the report of four Special Rapporteurs of the United Nations Human Rights Council on the prevalent of colonial boarding schools in Tibet where Tibetan children as young as three to four years old are coerced into an environment in which they are cut off from even a semblance of their cultural identity and values.
Explaining the historical facts of Tibet being an independent nation in the past, the Deputy Speaker highlighted the congressional hearing on Tibet in the U.S Capitol by Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) on Tibet during the side-lines of the 8th World Parliamentarians Convention on Tibet by Prof. Michael Van Walt Praag, Professor of International Law and Executive President of Kreddha; and Prof. Hon-Shiang Lau, Retired Chair Professor, City University of Hong Kong.
The former Dutch lawmaker was honored with a souvenir from the Tibetan parliament and presented with documents on Tibet, followed by a tour of the parliament’s standing committee hall.
