By; Newsroom
Pope Francis has arrived in Myanmar on his first trip to the Southeast Asian nation, where tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees have faced brutal military crackdown in the past three months.
His trip comes as the Myanmar government is accused of “ethnically cleansing” its Rohingya Muslim minority, more than 600,000 of whom have taken shelter in neighboring Bangladesh.
According to the United Nations, security forces in Myanmar reportedly burned down entire villages and opened fire at people fleeing burning homes.
Pope has previously condemned the atrocities, including mass killings and gang rapes, committed against the Muslim minority.
In his visiting schedule, Pope is expected to meet with refugees, Myanmar’s military leader and the De facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi who has also faced fierce criticism for failing to do more to resolve the crisis.
According to Papal aides, he will use the six-day trip to encourage dialogue and reconciliation after last week’s tentative agreement signed between Myanmar and Bangladesh a deal to return hundreds of thousands who have fled across the border, but aid agencies are uncertain of their safety.
Hundreds of people lined along the streets of Yangon, the country’s commercial capital, to see the Pope including a group of over 1,800 Catholics who walked long distances from the villages.
Catholics make up just over 1% of Myanmar’s 53m population, with many expected to see the Pope hold mass in Yangon on Wednesday.
On Thursday, he will travel to Bangladesh becoming the first pope to visit this main Muslim country.
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