Myanmar’s cardinal urges mercy, compassion for boat people

Myanmar’s top Catholic Church leader added his voice that of Pope Francis, making a heartfelt appeal ‎for Muslim Rohingyas fleeing persecution in his country and Bangladeshis escaping poverty heading to the ‎shores of rich South East Asian countries.  In a written statement to AsiaNews, Cardinal Charles Bo, ‎Archbihsop of Yangon, wrote that like desperate migrants setting out for the shores of Italy, “the  boat ‎people from Myanmar and Bangladesh are fleeing for dignity and security.”  “The world watched with ‎horror when countries after countries towed these boats back to the merciless seas.”  “Now a new saga ‎of tears and shatters fills our consciousness every day,” he said, describing the appalling ‎conditions that men, women and children face in overcrowded rickety boats.  Pope Francis on Sunday ‎appealed to the world to assist the migrants.  The archbishop, Myanmar’s first cardinal, appreciated ‎Malaysia, the Phillippines and Indonesia for their ‘great gesture of humanity’ in accepting ‎some of the boat people.    Cardinal Bo said, “Rohingyas or Bengalis, we as Myanmar citizens have ‎a moral obligation to protect and promote the ‎dignity of all human persons.  A  community cannot ‎be ‎demonized  and denied its basic  rights to name, citizenship and  right to community,” he said.   The ‎prelate wished that mercy and compassion flow like a river in Myanmar, the land of Buddha and ‎million pagodas.‎ (Source: AsiaNews)