Pope Francis arrives in Myanmar
Authored By Wion Web Desk
Published: Nov 27, 2017, 07:03 IST | Updated: Nov 27, 2017, 07:03 IST
Francis will spend three days in Myanmar before he travels to Bangladesh on Thursday, where he's expected to meet at least a small group of Rohingya refugees while in the capital Dhaka.
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Pope Francis arrives at Yangon International Airport
Pope Francis arrived in mainly Buddhist Myanmar on Monday where he was set to meet army chief Min Aung Hlaing, the man accused of overseeing a brutal campaign to drive out the country's Rohingya Muslim minority.
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Pope Francis is the first pope to ever visit the southeast Asian nation
The 80-year-old pontiff, the first to travel to Myanmar, was welcomed at the airport by children from different minority groups in bright, bejeweled clothes, who gave him flowers and received a papal embrace in return.
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The Pope has previously decried violence against the Rohingya, calling them his persecuted 'brothers and sisters'
Myanmar's military stands accused of waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Rohingya Muslims.
More than 620,000 of the persecuted minority have fled a crackdown in northern Rakhine state for neighboring Bangladesh over the past three
months.
In a last-minute change of schedule, the first official and highly anticipated meeting of Francis, a champion of refugee rights, will be on Monday evening with the powerful head of the military.
The pope has called the Rohingya his "brothers and sisters" in repeated entreaties to ease their plight.
More than 620,000 of the persecuted minority have fled a crackdown in northern Rakhine state for neighboring Bangladesh over the past three
months.
In a last-minute change of schedule, the first official and highly anticipated meeting of Francis, a champion of refugee rights, will be on Monday evening with the powerful head of the military.
The pope has called the Rohingya his "brothers and sisters" in repeated entreaties to ease their plight.
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Francis will meet civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday
On Tuesday, Francis will meet civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner whose lustre has faded because of her failure to speak up publicly for the Rohingya.
His speeches will be scrutinised by Buddhist hardliners for any mention of the word "Rohingya", an incendiary term in a country where the Muslim
the group is reviled and labeled "Bengalis" -- alleged illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
His speeches will be scrutinised by Buddhist hardliners for any mention of the word "Rohingya", an incendiary term in a country where the Muslim
the group is reviled and labeled "Bengalis" -- alleged illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
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Pope Francis is greeted by young children in traditional clothes upon his arrival at Yangon's airport in Myanmar.
The Rohingya crisis looms large over the pope's visit.
The army, which ran the country with an iron fist for nearly half a century, insists its Rakhine operation was a proportionate response to Rohingya "terrorists" who raided police posts in late August, killing at least a dozen officers.
But rights groups, the UN and the US have accused the army of using its operation as cover to drive out a minority it has oppressed for decades.
The deluge of desperate refugees arriving in Bangladesh has carried with them accounts of murder, rape, and arson at the hands of troops and hardline Buddhist mobs.
Inside the country a different opinion dominates.
"If the pope did come and weigh in heavily on this issue, it would inflame tensions and it would inflame public sentiment," said Myanmar-based political analyst Richard Horsey.
The army, which ran the country with an iron fist for nearly half a century, insists its Rakhine operation was a proportionate response to Rohingya "terrorists" who raided police posts in late August, killing at least a dozen officers.
But rights groups, the UN and the US have accused the army of using its operation as cover to drive out a minority it has oppressed for decades.
The deluge of desperate refugees arriving in Bangladesh has carried with them accounts of murder, rape, and arson at the hands of troops and hardline Buddhist mobs.
Inside the country a different opinion dominates.
"If the pope did come and weigh in heavily on this issue, it would inflame tensions and it would inflame public sentiment," said Myanmar-based political analyst Richard Horsey.
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Pope Francis greets the crowd as he arrives at Yangon
Days before the pope's visit, Myanmar and Bangladesh inked a deal vowing to begin repatriating Rohingya refugees in two months.
But details of the agreement -- including the use of temporary shelters for returnees, many of whose homes have been burned to the ground -- raise questions for Rohingya fearful of coming back without guarantees of basic rights.
Pope Francis will travel on to Bangladesh on Thursday, where he will meet a group of Rohingya Muslims in the capital Dhaka.
Nur Mohammad, a 45-year-old Rohingya imam at the Nayapara refugee camp in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, said he hoped the pope would tell the Myanmar government to accept Rohingya, "give citizenship to them and end all discriminations against them"
But details of the agreement -- including the use of temporary shelters for returnees, many of whose homes have been burned to the ground -- raise questions for Rohingya fearful of coming back without guarantees of basic rights.
Pope Francis will travel on to Bangladesh on Thursday, where he will meet a group of Rohingya Muslims in the capital Dhaka.
Nur Mohammad, a 45-year-old Rohingya imam at the Nayapara refugee camp in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, said he hoped the pope would tell the Myanmar government to accept Rohingya, "give citizenship to them and end all discriminations against them"