Arakan News Agency
Pope Francis is heading to Myanmar and Bangladesh as the two nations grapple with the Rohingya crisis. While some stress the pontiff should refrain from using the contentious term “Rohingya,” others disagree vehemently.
Pope Francis’ trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh on Monday comes as the region confronts turbulent times, not least because of the festering Rohingya crisis. The violence and consequent displacement facing Rohingya Muslims based in Myanmar’s western state of Arakan have come under close scrutiny worldwide.
In August this year, violence flared up once again after the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) raided several police posts and killed 12 people, according to government figures. The ARSA claims it is acting to secure the rights of the Rohingya.
The response from Myanmar’s military was swift and brutal. Since it launched its counterattack, some 600,000 Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh so far. The UN and human rights groups like Amnesty International speak of ethnic cleansing, accusing soldiers of committing “crimes against humanity,” including murder, rape and burning down entire villages. The military, though, forcefully denies allegations that it has committed atrocities against the Rohingya.
Pope Francis, who has established himself as a strong human rights advocate, has repeatedly called for solidarity with the people regarded as one of the most persecuted communities in the world. In August, the Pope appealed for an end to violence against the Rohingya and urged “full rights” to be given to the community. “My full closeness to our persecuted Rohingya brothers and sisters,” he said.
Prior to the papal visit, Yangon’s Archbishop Charles Bo met the pope in Rome and reportedly recommended that the head of the worldwide Catholic Church refrain from using the controversial term “Rohingya” in Myanmar. Instead, it’s suggested that the pope use “Rakhine or Arakan State Muslims,” to avoid controversy. Much of Myanmar’s Buddhist-majority population reject the term “Rohingya” and refuse to recognize them as a separate ethnic group or as Myanmar citizens.
Even former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and author of an advisory commission report on Arakan State, indicated that the pope should not use the term “Rohingya.”
Human rights groups, however, call on the pope to raise the issue during his trip.
“The Rohingya have little left besides their group name after years of statelessness, discriminatory restrictions on movement and access to life-sustaining services, and being targeted by a military subjecting them to ethnic cleansing and atrocities,” Phil Robertson, deputy director for Human Rights Watch in Asia, told Reuters news agency. “The Pope absolutely should stand up for the Rohingya by using the name Rohingya,” he said.
The motto of the visit is “peace and love.” The symbol for the journey, designed by the Catholic Church, shows the pope with a dove of peace, next to an outline of Myanmar in the colors of the rainbow, which is expected to represent ethnic and religious diversity. The whole thing is surrounded by the flags of the Vatican and Myanmar in a heart shape.
Catholics are one of the smallest religious communities in Myanmar, accounting for only 660,000 (1.2 percent) of the country’s population of 53 million.
So far, it is known that the pope will meet President Htin Kyaw and State Councilor Aung San Suu Kyi. After an interfaith-ecumenical peace meeting, among other events with Buddhist monks, a public mass is planned for November 29, after which Francis is scheduled to travel to Bangladesh.
