Pope Francis on Friday met a small group of Rohingyas, listened to their horrific stories and came to know why these people fled their homeland and took shelter in Bangladesh.

Mohammed Idris and the 17 others who met with Pope Francis have a common hope that the attention brought to the Rohingya’s plight through this meeting with the pontiff would contribute to fostering a long-term, dignified and safe solution to their horrific situation.

When a bullet tore into Jafar Alam’s forearm, he did what anyone would do - he ran for his life, reports the UNB.

Bleeding heavily and fearing further worse attacks, he kept going until he reached Bangladesh with his family.

‘I came here to save my life,’ said Jafar Alam who was one of the 18 Rohingya refugees, who met Pope Francis.

The 24-year-old farmer was fortunately directed to a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital as soon as he crossed the border and after receiving treatment the bullet-wound has now healed.

The scar, however, will remain with him for life.

IOM, the UN Migration Agency, worked with community leaders in the refugee settlements to identify a group to represent the Rohingya in the meeting with the pontiff, according to the IOM.

Caritas, a confederation of Catholic relief organisations, organised the group’s travel to Dhaka, as well as, their meeting with the Pope.

Jafar’s message to the Pope was - ‘When we say, we are Rohingya, we are attacked. Our lives are connected to this title but I will only go back if we are recognised as Rohingya and not targeted because of it.’

He added that every man and woman should have their full human rights respected in Myanmar including land rights.

‘All this needs to be guaranteed, if we are ever to go home.’

Jafar was accompanied by his 14-year-old niece at the meeting.

Twenty-seven-year-old Hajera Katun and her 37-year-old husband Mohammed Nurulla brought their five-year-old daughter with them to meet Pope.

The five-year-old now finds it difficult to sleep due to the trauma of what she has witnessed such a tender age.

Since they got married in 2007, Mohammed said they have not had a full week of normal married life due to constantly feeling oppressed and targeted in Myanmar’s Northern Rakhine State.

When the situation turned violent once again in August of this year, they were forced to flee to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

Hajera said she wanted to use the opportunity of meeting Pope to raise awareness of violence and sexual assault against Rohingya women for all those who suffered at the hands of aggressors in Myanmar.

‘As a woman, we are targeted, we cannot go outside alone.’

Mohammed, who was a religious teacher in Myanmar, said that he knows that Pope has raised his ‘powerful voice’ before for the Rohingya community and that during their meeting with him, he will request him to do it once again.

Having just been in Myanmar, Pope Francis arrived in Dhaka on Thursday where he said it was ‘imperative’ for the international community to take ‘decisive measures’ to find a resolution to the root causes of the Rohingya refugee crisis.

‘None of us can fail to be aware of the gravity of the situation, the immense toll of human suffering involved, and the precarious living conditions of so many of our brothers and sisters, a majority of whom are women and children, crowded in the refugee camps,’ Pope Francis said.

‘It is imperative that the international community take decisive measures to address this grave crisis, not only by working to resolve the political issues that have led to the mass displacement of people, but also by offering immediate material assistance to Bangladesh in its effort to respond effectively to urgent human needs.’

52-year-old Khairul Amin was very influential in his community in Northern Rakhine State - a well to do jack-of-all-trades with ventures in farming, fishing and retail.

‘I even used to have a little shop. Now, I do nothing - just sleeping and eating. I am not in charge of anything more.’

He crossed the border on September 5 but still remembers the massacres of October 2016.

His village was heavily targeted at that time and his family suffered greatly. He was even displaced to another village but after a few months he was able to return to his property.

When the violence flared up again at the end of August, he could not wait anymore and knew it was time to leave the country to save him, his wife and their six children.

They all now live close to each other in the overcrowded refugee settlement of Balukhali.He said that he would tell the Pope, ‘there is a total discrimination’ in Northern Rakhine State.

Having lived through waves of violence and oppression, Khairul Amin said he would talk about this with the Pope.

‘Even before, they were oppressing us through extortion but then last year it got violent again.’

Mohammed Idris had dreamt of becoming a village doctor like his father but this was crushed when he was forced from his home during the outbreak of violence on August 25. Now living with his large family in a few tiny shelters in the refugee settlements in Cox’s Bazar, he said he had one message that he hopes the Pope will use his platform to project.

‘I will tell the Pope that Rohingyas need freedom of speech and freedom of nationality.’