Pope Francis arrived in Myanmar on November 27 amid warnings from some advisers that even saying the word “Rohingya” might set off a diplomatic crisis, Reuters reported.
Thousands of the country’s 700,000 Catholics traveled to Yangon, where they welcomed the pope to the majority-Buddhist country. The visit comes during heightened tensions over the Rohingya crisis, after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson labelled the Myanmar government’s actions against the Rohingya as “ethnic cleansing” and threatened sanctions on November 22.
Pope Francis also planned to visit Bangladesh on November 30, where more than 620,000 Rohingya refugees have fled in recent months, according to the UN. Credit: Instagram/ak_nj_88 via Storyful
