Pope dilutes rebuke of Myanmar acts
MYANMAR: Human rights groups and Rohingya activists expressed disappointment after Pope Francis avoided publicly referencing persecution of the Muslim minority group in a speech to Myanmar’s ruling elite.
The Pope called for ‘‘justice and a respect for human rights’’ in an address to officials including Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s civilian leader, in the capital city of Naypyidaw yesterday. But in apparent deference to Myanmar diplomatic sensitivities, he did not use the word ‘‘Rohingya’’ or mention allegations of ethnic cleansing.
‘‘The future of Myanmar must be peace, a peace based on respect for the dignity and rights of each member of society, respect for each ethnic group and its identity, respect for the rule of law, and respect for a democratic order that enables each individual and every group – none excluded – to offer its legitimate contribution to the common good,’’ he said in a broadly framed address.
The Pope landed in Yangon on Tuesday for a week-long trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh, which both have small Catholic minorities. Myanmar is home to about 700,000 Catholics.
The diplomatically sensitive trip was planned before the outbreak of the Rohingya refugee crisis three months ago. A military crackdown against the Muslim minority in Myanmar’s northwestern Rakhine state has led to 620,000 people fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh since August.
Refugees have described fleeing a systematic campaign of house burnings, rape and murder by Myanmar soldiers and civilian vigilantes who say they are carrying out counterterrorist operations against a Rohingya insurgent group. The United Nations and Western governments have described the campaign against the Rohingya as ‘‘textbook ethnic cleansing’’.
The Pope has previously spoken out in defence of the Rohingya, and he has faced pressure to use this trip to confront Suu Kyi and Myanmar’s military over the violence in Rakhine state. However, Vatican aides are understood to have advised him to avoid using the term ‘‘Rohingya’’, which the Myanmar government and nationalist groups do not recognise, in case it triggers a backlash that could affect the country’s Christian minority.
Rohingya activists expressed ‘‘disappointment’’ but said they hoped he would attempt to press Suu Kyi in private.
– Telegraph Group