Pope Francis yesterday called for respect for rights and justice in a keenly watched address in Myanmar, but refrained from any mention of the Rohingya or the alleged ethnic cleansing that has driven huge numbers of the Muslim minority from the country.
Sharing a stage with Burmese State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi in the capital, Naypyidaw, he did not address the Rohingya crisis head-on, but instead tip-toed around the unfolding humanitarian emergency.
Peace can only be achieved through “justice and a respect for human rights,” he said in a broadly framed speech that also called for “respect for each ethnic group and its identity.”
The word “Rohingya,” an incendiary term in a mainly Buddhist country where the Muslim minority are denied citizenship and called illegal “Bengali” immigrants, was absent from his speech.
Francis has repeatedly defended the group, about 620,000 of whom have fled from Myanmar’s Rakhine State to Bangladesh since August.
Rights groups had urged him to address Myanmar’s treatment of the minority during his four-day visit, but the local Catholic Church had cautioned him against straying into the Rohingya issue.
Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has been criticized by a global rights community that once adored her, but is now outraged at her tepid response to the plight of the Rohingya.
Rights groups have clamored for Aung San Suu Kyi to be stripped of her peace prize. Oxford, the English city she once called home, on Monday removed her Freedom of the City award for “inaction” in the face of oppression of the Rohingya.
Aung San Suu Kyi spoke of the challenges her nation faces as it creeps out of the shadow of five decades of military rule, but also did not reference the Rohingya.
The government aimed to build the nation by “protecting rights, fostering tolerance, ensuring security for all,” she said in a short speech that gave a nod to global concern over the “situation in the Rakhine.”
The pope’s peace mission is studded with pitfalls in Myanmar, where a monk-led Buddhist nationalist movement has fostered widespread loathing for the Rohingya.
In recognition of those tensions his public speech was “very carefully worded,” Myanmar-based political analyst Richard Horsey said, adding: “He is likely to have been more forthright in private meetings with Myanmar’s leaders.”
However, the pontiff’s words were of little comfort to Rohingya stuck in dire conditions in Bangladesh.
“We are very much disappointed that he did not mention the Rohingya crisis,” Rohingya activist Mohammad Zubair said from Kutupalong refugee camp, speaking of a religious leader who previously “even held prayers for the Rohingya.”
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS