Rohingya persecution in Myanmar

"At least 6,700 Rohingya, in the most conservative estimations, are estimated to have been killed, including at least 730 children below the age of five," MSF said Dec. 14.  

At least 6700 representatives of the Rohingya minority were killed in the first month of the Myanmar armed forces' crackdowns, which began at the end of August, said Doctors without Borders.

The violence targeting Myanmar’s Muslim minority “amounts to ethnic cleansing,” a U.K. parliament report has stated.

Pope Francis on Dec. 2 defended his strategy of avoiding the term Rohingya in Myanmar, saying he believed he got his message across to both the civilian and military leadership without shutting down dialogue.

Pope Francis arrived today in Yangon, the economic capital of the Myanmar-populated Buddhist population, at the beginning of the first visit of the head of the Roman Catholic Church to that country, the world's agencies reported.

Myanmar and Bangladesh have signed an agreement that will in principle allow the return of rohingya refugees to their country, said official representatives quoted by AFP.

The deal has been negotiated, the agency notes but just after pressure from the international community for the recent refugee crisis.

Myanmar and Bangladesh on Nov. 23 signed an agreement for the return of Rohingya Muslims who have crossed the border to escape a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar's western Rakhine state since late August.

The United States on Nov. 22 toughened its stance on Myanmar, accusing the country’s security forces of perpetrating “horrendous atrocities” against the Rohingya that amount to “ethnic cleansing” of the Muslim minority.

Pope Francis has added in a private meeting with Myanmar’s military chief during his upcoming trip to the region in an indication that the Vatican views the crackdown on Rohingya Muslims as a military operation distinct from the will of the civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar has subjected Rohingya Muslims to long-term discrimination and persecution that amounts to “dehumanizing apartheid,” Amnesty International said on Nov. 21 in a report that raises questions about what those who have fled a violent military crackdown would face if they returned home.