The Dalai Lama has joined Pope Francis in calling for Myanmar Buddhists to end violence against Rohingya Muslims in what the United Nations says amounts to ethnic cleansing and possibly crimes against humanity.

The Tibetan Buddhist leader revealed he has privately communicated with Myanmar's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi "to use her influence to bring about a peaceful resolution to this problem".

The Dalai Lama is keen to meet US President-elect Donald Trump. Credit:AP

The Dalai Lama made the appeal in written comments that will be read at the first hearing of the Permanent People's Tribunal on Myanmar at London's Queen Mary University on March 6 and 7.

"All the world's major religions convey a message of peace and compassion, so it is especially saddening when we hear of violence being used in the name of religion like the very unfortunate events concerning the Muslim community in Burma [Myanmar]," he wrote, referring to the plight of more than 1 million Rohingya living in Rakhine state on Myanmar's western coast.