The exiled spiritual leader of Tibet said Wednesday that, while Europe can help refugees, “Europe belongs to the Europeans” and migrants should rebuild their homelands. 
 
 The Dalai Lama made the comments at a conference in Malmo, Sweden, which has struggled with an increase in rape and violent crimes correlating to an increase in refugees from Syria and other predominantly Muslim countries. The Dalai Lama argued that European countries were “morally responsible” for assisting “a refugee really facing danger against their life,” but that refugees should ultimately go back and rebuild their home countries. (Pope’s ‘Don’t Close Your Doors’ Refugee Initiative Begins On The 445th Anniversary Of Papal Army Driving Out Islamic Invaders) 
 
 “Receive them, help them, educate them … but ultimately they should develop their own country,” the Dalai Lama said, according to AFP. 
 
 “I think Europe belongs to the Europeans,” he added, saying “they ultimately should rebuild their own country.” 
 
 The spiritual leader’s comments likely struck a chord with locals, as Sweden has experienced an explosion in violent migrant gang-related incidents, many of which involved military-grade explosive devices, since 2014 when over 100,000 asylum seekers from predominantly Muslim countries settled in the area. 
 
 The Dalai Lama also made similar comments concerning refugees in Germany in 2016, saying that “Europe, for example Germany, cannot become an Arab country.” 
 
 “Germany is Germany. There are so many that in practice it becomes difficult,” he said, according to Independent. 
 
 “From a moral point of view, too, I think that the refugees should only be admitted temporarily,” he added. 
 
 The Dalai Lama clarified at the time that he had compassion for refugees, especially those fleeing from war, but said now the goal of aid should be their return to their homelands. 
 
 “When we look into the face of every single refugee, especially the children and women, we can feel their suffering,” he said. “The goal should be that they return and help rebuild their countries.” 
 
 The Dalai Lama has remained in exile since 1959, when he escaped Tibet and settled in India with tens of thousands of followers after Chinese communist troops took over the region. The Indian government agreed to grant asylum to him and his followers and also granted voting rights to Tibetans born in India. The Indian government also bore all expenses related to establishing schools for Tibetan children in the country. 
 
 Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org. ||||| Speaking at a conference in Sweden's third-largest city of Malmö, home to a large immigrant population, the Dalai Lama – who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 – said Europe was "morally responsible" for helping "a refugee really facing danger against their life". 
 
 "Receive them, help them, educate them… but ultimately they should develop their own country," said the 83-year-old Tibetan who fled the capital Lhasa in fear of his life after China poured troops into the region to crush an uprising. 
 
 "I think Europe belongs to the Europeans," he said, adding they should make clear to refugees that "they ultimately should rebuild their own country". 
 
 
 
 The Dalai Lama at the conference in Malmö. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT 
 
 Revered by millions of Buddhists around the world, and regarded by his many supporters as a visionary in the vein of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, the Dalai Lama was speaking three days after the far-right populist party Sweden Democrats made gains in the country's general election on Sunday. 
 
 The anti-immigration party came in third, behind Prime Minister Stefan Löfven's Social Democrats and the opposition conservative Moderates in the Nordic nation which in 2015 took in the highest number of asylum seekers per capita in Europe.
– Addressing a conference in Malmö, Sweden, home of many immigrants, the Dalai Lama said Europe was "morally responsible" for helping refugees who are in danger—but that ultimately those refugees should return to their homelands. "Receive them, help them, educate them ... but ultimately they should develop their own country," he said, per the Local. "I think Europe belongs to the Europeans," and that refugees "ultimately should rebuild their own country," he added. The 83-year-old Buddhist spiritual leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner fled Tibet as Chinese communist troops took over the area in 1959, and settled in India, where he was granted asylum, the Daily Caller notes.