The pope had earlie­r faced critic­ism for not using the word "Rohing­ya" in mainly-Buddhi­st Myanma­rDHAKA: Pope Francis referred to refugees who have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh as “Rohingya” on Friday, using the politically sensitive name for the persecuted minority for the first time on his Asia tour after meeting a group of them in Dhaka. “Today the presence of God is also called Rohingya,” the pope said after an emotional encounter with refugees who have fled violence in neighbouring Myanmar. “Let us not close our hearts, let us not look the other way.”Pope in Bangladesh urges ‘decisive’ measures on Rohingya crisisHe made the comments after speaking to some of the refugees whose desperate plight has dominated his landmark tour of Myanmar and Bangladesh. The pope had earlier faced criticism for not using the word “Rohingya” in mainly-Buddhist Myanmar, where the stateless Muslim minority are widely reviled as illegal immigrants. The term is politically sensitive because many there refuse to see the Rohingya as a distinct ethnic group.

Source: The Express Tribune December 01, 2017 14:26 UTC