Pope meets general accused of leading attacks on Rohingyas
POPE Francis met the chief of the Burmese military as he began a week-long trip to Burma and Bangladesh in which he is expected to speak out over the Rohingya refugee crisis.
The Pope landed in Rangoon yesterday on a visit originally planned to bolster the country’s tiny Catholic minority but which human rights activists hope will be used to put diplomatic pressure on Aung San Suu Kyi’s government over a violent crackdown against the Muslim ethnic group.
He met General Min Aung Hliang, the powerful head of the Tatmadaw, the Burmese military, for 15 minutes. He will meet political and diplomatic leaders, including Ms Suu Kyi today.
Greg Burke, a Vatican spokesman, said: “They spoke of the great responsibility of the authorities of the country in this moment of transition.”
The general said in a statement on his Facebook page that he told the Pope there was “no religious discrimination” in the Buddhist majority country.
“Myanmar has no religious discrimination at all,” he said. “Likewise our military too...performs for the peace and stability of the country.”
A military offensive against the Muslim minority in Burma’s north-western Rakhine state has sent more than 620,000 people fleeing into neighbouring Bangladesh since August.
Pope Francis, who has previously called the Rohingya “our brothers and sisters”, is expected to meet a delegation of Rohingya Muslims in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, later in the week.