Pope complete stranger to the Rohingya
Refugees in Bangladesh unaware of Pontiff’s role in world
COX’S BAZAR— The plight of Rohingya refugees is the backdrop to Pope Francis’ landmark visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh this week.
But in the vast refugee camps on the border, there is puzzlement, with many asking: “Who is he?”
The head of the Catholic Church has repeatedly spoken out in support of the Rohingya, a stateless Muslim minority who have fled to Bangladesh in their hundreds of thousands, bringing with them allegations of murders, rapes and arson committed by the Myanmarmilitary.
Ethnic cleansing
This week, the Pope met Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Army chief Min Aung Hlaing, who is accused of overseeing a brutal campaign to drive out the group that the United Nations and the United States have labeled ethnic cleansing.
With his message of hope and tolerance, supporters hope the Pope’s presence can ease the religious and ethnic hatreds that have roiled the region.
Wealthy king
In the teeming Bangladeshi camps near the border with Myanmar, though, mention of the Pontiff drew blank faces and raised eyebrows.
Shown a photo, refugees shrugged and guessed him to be anyone from a wealthy king or a celebrity from the United States to a Bangladeshi politician.
Some mistook his zucchetto for an Islamic skullcap and said he could be a Muslim leader.
‘Is he important?’
“I think I’ve seen him in the news but what does he do? Is he important?” asked 42-year-old Nurul Qadar.
Pope Francis, who arrives in Bangladesh on Thursday from mainly Buddhist Myanmar, is the first pontiff in 31 years to visit Bangladesh and has called the Rohingya his “brothers and sisters.”
He is not due to visit the camps but will meet a small group of Rohingya refugees during an interfaith meeting in Dhaka on Friday.
About 620,000 Rohingya have poured into the poor, overpopulated country since the start of a violent crackdown by the Myanmar Army in August.
They are denied almost all basic human rights in their native Myanmar, including the right to practice their religion, travel and marry freely.
‘A very wise man’
On learning of Pope Francis’ role in the world, refugees Agence France-Presse (AFP) spoke to said they hoped he would be able to broker a deal with Myanmar that would pave the way for a safe return to their homeland.
Hassan Arraf, a Rohingya imam and the only one out of dozens who knew of the Pope, said the Argentinian Pontiff with his man-of-the-people reputation had the power to change their lives.
“The way the military tortured us, no religion allows it. He is a big leader of another religion but I believe he’s a very wise man,” he said.—