Although Pope Francis avoided using the word-Rohingya-during his Myanmar visit, Rohingyas who fled violence in Rakhine State to Cox’s Bazar said they are expecting some words about them from him during his Bangladesh visit that began on Thursday afternoon.
“He’s global leader. He’s now in Bangladesh. I think he’ll talk about our sufferings and call for justice,” Mohammed Rafique, a 21-year-old Rohingya, told UNB over phone.
He said he heard that Pope did not mention the word – Rohingya-in Myanmar but he believes Pope will tell something about them in Bangladesh.
“Like me, others are also waiting to see what Pope says,” Rafique who had the opportunity to study history in Sittwe University, Myanmar, said.
Noor Begum, a 48-year-old forcibly displaced Myanmar national, however, said she does not know about Pope Francis. “I don’t know him. I don’t know any foreigner,” she said. Siddique Islam, another Rohingya from Rakhine State, echoed Noor Begum, saying he does not know why Pope has come to Bangladesh.
However, a senior citizen- Hazi Baser – said he was following Pope’s visit since his arrival in Myanmar. “I came to know about his two-nation visit through a radio announcement,” said the 74-year-old Rohingya man who was also a government employee in Myanmar before 1975.
Responding to a query, Baser said he did not get hurt as Pope Francis did not use Rohingya word during his Myanmar visit. “He might have done so at the request of the Myanmar government. We didn’t mind it,” he said hoping that Pope will talk about them in Bangladesh.
“He is a leader of humanity. He talks about unity. I think he has love for Rohingyas,” said Baser who is a son of a landlord but turned empty today amid Myanmar Army’s crackdown.
Amid 21 gun-salute and highest state honour, Pope Francis arrived here on Thursday afternoon on a three-day state visit carrying a message of harmony, peace, reconciliation and forgiveness.
A VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying Pope landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport from Yangon, Myanmar. President Abdul Hamid received Pope.
A planned meeting with a small group of Rohingyas is expected to be a high point during the Pope’s Dhaka visit. However, there is no mention of such meeting in the draft programme schedule of Pope.
On Tuesday in Myanmar, Pope Francis insisted that Myanmar’s future depends on respecting the rights of each ethnic group, an indirect show of support for Rohingya Muslims who have been subject to decades of discrimination and a recent military crackdown described by the UN as a textbook campaign of “ethnic cleansing.”
Francis did not mention the crackdown or even utter the contested word “Rohingya” in his speech to Myanmar’s civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and other authorities and diplomats in the capital.
But he lamented how Myanmar’s people have suffered “and continue to suffer from civil conflict and hostilities,” and insisted that everyone who calls Myanmar home deserves to have their basic human rights and dignity guaranteed.
Some 625,000 new arrivals are reported as of November 29, according to IOM Needs and Population Monitoring (NPM) report released on Thursday evening which was done in collaboration with Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG).
