Pope Francis speaks out on 'tortured' Rohingya

Pope Francis yesterday spoke out over the alleged maltreatment of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority, who he said were being "tortured and killed" for their faith.

The pontiff used his midweek address to describe the Rohingya as "good and peaceful people" who "have suffered for years."

Francis offered a special prayer for "brothers and sisters" as he alluded to a UN human rights report last week which accused Myanmar's military of likely killing hundreds of Rohingya in an ongoing crackdown.

"They have been suffering for years, they have been tortured, killed simply because they wanted to live their culture and their Muslim faith," the Pope said.

"They have been thrown out of Myanmar, moved from one place to the other because no one wants them. But they are good people, peaceful people. They are not Christian. They are good people. They are our brothers and sisters," he said.

The report by the UN's rights body OHCHR said the accounts of torture, murder and gang-rape at the hands of security forces were so severe they may amount to ethnic cleansing, reported AFP.

Almost 70,000 Rohingya are reported to have fled to Bangladesh since the army launched "clearance operations" four months ago to find Rohingya militants accused of attacking police border posts.

An estimated 22,000 more have fled to the Myanmar interior according to the UN report, based on 200 interviews and including brutal testimonies of children butchered with knives while their mothers were raped by security forces.