In Bangladesh, Pope Francis is expected to meet a group of Rohingya refugees from among the roughly 625,000 who have fled Myanmar.
Pope Francis today landed in Bangladesh after a diplomatically sensitive trip to neighbouring Myanmar, where he made no direct reference to the plight of Rohingya Muslims who have faced systematic persecution in the Buddhist-majority country. Over 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh after the Army launched a massive crackdown following attacks by militants on security checkpoints in August this year.
In Bangladesh, the Pope is expected to meet a group of Rohingya refugees from among the roughly 625,000 who have fled Myanmar.
Bangladesh is hoping that the Thursday-Saturday visit will help pressure the international community to find a lasting solution to the problem of the periodic influx of Rohingya from Myanmar.
Francis, who was had arrived in Myanmar on Monday, refrained from mentioning Rohingya Muslims by name and kept silent on allegations that the army is waging an ethnic cleansing campaign against the minority.
The Vatican on Wednesday defended the Pope's decision not to use the word "Rohingya" in public during his four-day Myanmar trip, saying his moral authority was unblemished and that his mere presence drew attention to the refugee crisis.
Although Francis studiously avoided the term, following the advice of local Church officials who feared it could turn Myanmar's military and government against minority Christians, his calls for justice, human rights and respect were widely seen as applicable to the Rohingya. There are 700,000 Roman Catholics in Myanmar which has a population of 51 million.
Myanmar does not recognise the Rohingya as citizens nor as members of a distinct ethnic group with their own identity, and it even rejects the term "Rohingya" and its use.
Many people in Myanmar refer to members of the Muslim minority in Rakhine state as illegal migrant “Bengalis”, referring to their origin. They are excluded from the 135 "national races" recognised by law, and even using the name is considered inflammatory.
Amnesty International has said that the Rohingya and Muslims generally in Rakhine state have been subjected to "systemic social and political exclusion" for decades and accused the military of "crimes against humanity" in the last two years, including murder, rape torture and forcible displacement.
The exodus of Rohingya people from Rakhine state to the southern tip of Bangladesh was sparked by a military crackdown in response to Rohingya militant attacks on an army base and police posts on Aug. 25.
Scores of Rohingya villages were burnt to the ground, and refugees arriving in Bangladesh told of killings and rapes.
The United Nations and the United States have accused Myanmar of ethnic cleansing and last week Washington said the military's campaign included "horrendous atrocities" aimed at "ethnic cleansing".
Myanmar's military has denied accusations of murder, rape and forced displacement. The government blames the crisis on the Rohingya militants, whom it has condemned as terrorists.
Francis held talks during his trip with Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate and longtime champion of democracy who in 2016 formed Myanmar's first civilian government in half a century.
Suu Kyi has faced a barrage of criticism from Western nations in recent weeks for expressing doubts about reports of abuses against Rohingya and for failing to condemn the military.
(With Reuters inputs)
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