Respect ethnic minorities, pope urges Myanmar leaders

NAYPYITAW: Pope Francis has urged the leaders of majority-Buddhist Myanmar, mired in a crisis over the fate of Muslim Rohingya, to commit themselves to justice, human rights and respect for “each ethnic group and its identity”.

The pope avoided a diplomatic backlash by not using the highly charged term “Rohingya” in his addresses to officials, including leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

However, his words were applicable to members of the beleaguered minority, who Myanmar does not recognise as citizens.

More than 620 000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh – where the pope heads tomorrow – since the end of August, escaping from a military crackdown that Washington has said included “horrendous atrocities” aimed at “ethnic cleansing”.

Francis made his comments in Naypyitaw, the country’s capital, where he was received by Suu Kyi, the Nobel peace laureate and champion of democracy. She has faced international criticism for expressing doubts about the reports of rights abuses against the Rohingya and failing to condemn the military.

“The future of Myanmar must be peace, based on respect for the dignity and rights of each member of society and each ethnic group, 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. Myanmar rejects the term “Rohingya” and its use, with most people instead referring to the Muslim minority in Rakhine state as illegal migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

Before the diplomatically risky trip, the pope’s own advisers recommended he not use it in Myanmar, lest he set off a diplomatic incident that could turn the country’s military and government against minority Christians. Human rights groups such as Amnesty International, which has accused the army of “crimes against humanity”, had urged him to utter it.

A hardline group of Buddhist monks warned on Monday that there would be “a response” if he spoke openly about the Rohingya.

Richard Horsey, a former UN official and analyst based in Yangon, said the pope’s speech was “very cautiously worded” and “crafted to avoid antagonising local audiences”.

“He has clearly taken the advice of his cardinals to avoid weighing in too heavily on the Rohingya crisis, but alluded to it with his message.”

The pope met privately with Suu Kyi at the presidential palace. Suu Kyi said in her speech there had been an erosion of trust and understanding between communities of Rakhine state, but did not refer to the Rohingya. Referring to the country’s communal tensions, Francis said religious differences “need not be a source of division and distrust, but rather a force for unity, forgiveness, tolerance and wise nation-building”.

He made the same point at an earlier meeting with Buddhist, Islamic, Hindu, Jewish and Christian faith leaders, where he called for “unity in diversity”. – Reuters