Pope Francis has greeted and blessed Rohingya refugees who fled to Bangladesh from neighboring Myanmar, grasping their hands and listening to their stories at an interfaith peace prayer in Dhaka, reports Associated Press.
He expressed sorrow for the “tragedy” of the Rohingya Muslims’ plight, using the minority group’s name for the first time on his trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh as he wrapped up a closely watched visit overshadowed by a cross-border humanitarian crisis.
The Pontiff avoided using the word “Rohingya” during the first leg of his six-day tour, when he was in Myanmar. However, he used it on Friday at a meeting in Bangladesh with refugees, and asked for their forgiveness for what he called the “world’s indifference” to their plight. “Dear brothers and sisters, we are all close to you. Your tragedy is very hard, very big,” the Roman Catholic leader said. “In the name of everyone, of those who persecute you, those who hurt you, and especially of the world’s indifference, I ask for your forgiveness.”
The 16 Rohingya — 12 men, two women and two young girls — traveled to Dhaka from Cox’s Bazar, where refugee camps are overflowing with more than 6,20,000 Rohingya who have fled what the UN says is a campaign of ethnic cleansing by Myanmar.
One by one, each one of the refugees approached the pope at the end of Friday’s event. Francis grasped their hands and listened intently as they recounted their experiences to him, through an interpreter.
He blessed one little girl, placing his hand on her head, and grasped the shoulder of a young man.