The woman, who was not identified but was seen from behind on camera, told ITV that she was sharing her story in an effort to atone for her past.

"The clear intention was ethnic cleansing. We were asked to believe this was part of the Communist Party's population control plan," she said. "At the time, I thought it was my job."

At least 1 million Uyghur people are believed to be interned in concentration camps in China's Xinjiang Province. Human rights groups and international watchdogs have documented a "slow genocide" against the Uyghurs, including forced sterilizations and abortions, as well as forced organ harvesting, political indoctrination, and torture. Read more

He also says it is "imperative" for world governments to immediately provide assistance to help the Bangladeshi government cope with Asia's worst refugee crisis in decades.

Bangladesh has opened its borders to the refugees.

The United Nations is calling the situation the Rohingya are enduring a textbook case of "ethnic cleansing."

Francis used the opportunity his trip provided to appeal to Myanmar's Buddhist leaders to overcome "prejudice and hatred".

Later in his trip, in a speech before Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid, government officials and ambassadors from around the world, Francis praised Bangladesh's sacrifice and generosity in welcoming in so many refugees "before the eyes of the whole world."

He also met with 18 Rohingya people who are seeking refuge in Bangladesh.

He said the refugees wept as they told him their stories.

"In the name of all those who have persecuted you, who have harmed you, in the face of the world's indifference, I ask for your forgiveness," he told them.

He explained to journalists on his home-bound plane journey that he knew that he was going to meet the Rohingya while he was visiting Myanmar and Bangladesh, but he didn't know where and how.

Nonetheless, meeting the Rohingya was one of his conditions for making the trip, he told them.

Source

• Channel News Asia
• New York Times
• Catholic Herald
• Aljazeera
• Image: aa.com.tr

Hundreds of thousands of members of the Muslim minority have fled principally Buddhist Myanmar, where the military is conducting a "clearance operation."

The head of the Catholic Church in Myanmar, Archbishop of Yangon Cardinal Charles Bo, said he expects more from Aung San Suu Kyi.

"The world looks at Aung San Suu Kyi with the same lens with which it looked at her during her struggle for democracy," Bo told Time magazine. "Now she is part of the government, she is a political leader. Surely she should have spoken out."

However, he warned against "stigmatizing" Suu Kyi, saying that if the army retakes power, it would cause "the end of any dream of democracy."

Suu Kyi's position, is challenging because democracy in Myanmar remains fragile, Bo says.

Even though Suu Kyi was elected in a landmark democratic election in 2015, the military still controls key government ministries including Defence, Home Affairs and Border Affairs.

"Aung San Suu Kyi is walking a tightrope," Bo says.

"Already dark forces are clamouring for return to army rule."

Cardinal Patrick D'Rozario, the Archbishop of the Dhaka, told Crux he planned on visiting the camps personally to assess the situation.

D'Rozario said the church in the country is active in the humanitarian relief work being provided, despite the fact Catholics make up only about 0.2 percent of the population.

"Bangladesh Caritas is involved in relief work in the camps providing relief initially to fourteen thousand families," he told Crux, adding that Caritas Internationalis is the only international NGO approved by the government to work in the area.

James Romen Boiragi is the Bishop of Khulna, Bangladesh's third largest city. He said the situation with the Rohingya refugees is "very bad."

"We condemn this kind of military operation," the bishop told Crux. "This is an act against humanity and a violation of human rights. So many people are living inhuman lives. Lot of children are struggling to

Pakistani Bishop Joseph Arshad once served in the Vatican embassy to Bangladesh, and now heads the Pakistan Bishops' National Commission for Justice & Peace.

He told Crux the current crisis transcends ethnicity, religion, and nationality.

"We cannot remain silent. It's a humanitarian suffering and the Catholic Church in Pakistan stands strong with Rohingya people," Arshad said.

Sources

• Crux
• Time
• Image: Fortune

At least 5,000 Rohingya have fled the religiously and ethnically divided state where the military has operated counter-insurgency operations since Oct. 9 that has left more than 100 people dead and more than 400 arrested.

Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, an advocacy group on Rohingya rights, said that at least 5,000 people fled to Bangladesh during Nov. 14-20 period.

"About 1,500 are stranded on a disputed island between Myanmar and Bangladesh in the middle of the Naf River without any food or water," Lewa told ucanews.com.

The United Nations said that they couldn't verify the numbers of Rohingya refugees, as they have no access to those areas.

"We have been appealing for access in order to assess and help meet the need for shelter, food and medical attention," Vivian Tan, spokesperson of the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, told ucanews.com.

For many Rohingya, reaching the border does not mean safe arrival.

Bangladesh has hardened its stance on keeping its border closed and has tried to push refugees back as the country struggles to cope with the exodus.

"The Bangladeshi government must not add to the suffering of Rohingya. They should be recognized and protected as refugees fleeing persecution, not punished for who they are," Champa Patel, South Asia director of Amnesty International said in a statement on Nov. 24.

A 40-year-old Rohingya woman told the London-based rights group that she had fled to Bangladesh after the Myanmar army killed her husband and one of her sons. She said she was not able to find shelter in a camp for herself and her two young children.

"We are sleeping outside in the mud," she said. " My son is 2- years-old and is crying all the time, he is very cold in the mornings. Still, compared to Myanmar, Bangladesh seems like heaven to me." Continue reading

Sources

• John Menadue in Pearls and Irritations
• Image: Stop Genocide Now

British peer David Alton said this amounts to 200 million people in 60 countries.

Persecution ranged from murder, rape and torture to repressive laws, discrimination and social exclusion, he said in a Guardian article.

One consequence was "a form of religio-ethnic cleansing of Christian communities", said John Pontifex of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), a Catholic campaign group that monitors persecution.

"The persecution of Christians is at a level we've not seen for many, many years and the main impact is the migration of Christian people," he said.

"There are huge swaths of the world which are now experiencing a very sharp decline in the number of Christians."

According to the Pew Research Center, Christians face harassment in 102 countries - more than any other religion.

ACN's 2014 report on religious freedom in the world said conditions had deteriorated in 55 countries, and significantly so in six countries: Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan and Syria.

Although Muslims "also face terrible and systematic persecution . . . and Jewish communities have also suffered increased threats and violence", Christians were by far the most persecuted faith group, the report said.

Open Doors, a global organisation monitoring Christian persecution, conservatively estimated that 4344 Christians were killed for faith-related reasons in 12 months up to November, 2014, and 1062 churches were attacked.

On his recent trip to Latin America, Pope Francis said he was dismayed "to see how in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world many of our brothers and sisters are persecuted, tortured and killed for their faith in Jesus".

He went on: "In this third world war, waged piecemeal, which we are now experiencing, a form of genocide is taking place, and it must end."

Sources

• The Guardian
• The Guardian
• Image: Examiner.com