Jolie asks Thailand to grant refugees greater freedom
The Academy Award-winning actress and goodwill ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency visited Thailand’s Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee centre on Wednesday.
“I was saddened to meet a 21-year-old woman who was born in a refugee camp, who has never even been out of the camp and is now raising her own child in a camp,” Jolie was quoted as saying yesterday.
She asked Thai authorities to give around 110,000 refugees in northern Thailand greater freedom to move around and seek higher education, because they are unlikely to be welcomed back anytime soon to Burma.
Burma’s military junta has been accused of gross atrocities against ethnic minorities, forcing thousands to flee.
Jolie, 33, sat down in a two-room house on stilts and talked with a female refugee. She then met orphans at a boarding school and heard from teenage girls worried that they might be sent back to Burma.
“I hope we can work with the Thai authorities to speed up the government admissions process and that you will not be forced to go back to Burma if danger remains,” Jolie said.
Jolie’s visit comes amid an increase in the arrival of migrants from Burma, who often travel on rickety vessels to escape violence or harm.
