COX’S BAZAR, Feb 5, 2019 (BSS) – Hollywood megastar Angelica Jolie today
demanded Myanmar’s “genuine commitment” to end continued violence against
Rohingyas creating conducive environment in Rakhine state to resolve the
world’s worst refugee crisis as she wrapped up her two day visit to their
crammed makeshift settlements here.
“I urge the Myanmar authorities to show the genuine commitment needed to
end the cycle of violence and displacement and improve the condition of all
communities in Rakhine state including the Rohingya,” she told a media
briefing as a special envoy of UN refugee agency (UNHCR).
Jolie said any government’s “test and measure” was reflected in its
treatment with most vulnerable people and society and how they (Myanmar) treat
those who stand up for the vulnerable and “speak out for the atrocities against
them” as she briefly met the media in this southeastern town.
“The people responsible of human rights violations (in Myanmar) must be
held accountable for their action,” said the celebrity as she visited the
world’s largest refugee settlement ahead of a new UN appeal for nearly one
billion dollars to look after the Rohongya influx in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh provided the makeshift refuge to over one million Rohingyas who
fled their home in neighbouring Myanmar’s Rakhine state to evade atrocities
which the UN called “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing” while rights
groups dubbed it “genocide” as the brutality forced 720,000 Muslim Rohingyas
flee the military clampdown in August 2017.
Over four lakh of them took refuge in Bangladesh previously in view of the
atrocities ahead of the latest spate of exodus earning the Rohingyas the
status of world’s most persecuted minority community.
Jolie described Bangladesh as a “generous country with rich culture and
history but with limited resources” and said it must not be left to tackle
the crisis alone.
She urged the international community to continue to provide the
humanitarian aid necessary to meet the need of the refuges as well as support
the local community who generously hosted the huge numbers of displaced
Rohingyas.
“I am humble and proud to stand with you (Rhoingya) today, you have every
right to living security, to be free to practice your religion and to coexist
with people of other faiths and ethnicities, you have every right not to be
stateless and the way you have been treated (in Myanmar) shames us all.”
Jolie visited different camps on the outskirts of Cox’s Bazar and talked to
Rohingyas and listened to their horrifying stories as she went straight to a
camp in Teknaf near the Myanmar border after arriving in the capital Dhaka
yesterday.
The special UNHCR envoy will conclude her Bangladesh tour tomorrow when she
is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister AK Abdul
Momen, officials said.
UNHCR officials said during the meetings, Jolie was expected to discuss
how the UN refugee agency could best support the current response led by the
Bangladeshi government, along with the need for safe and sustainable
solutions to their plights.
UN said it was set to launch of a new appeal for the humanitarian
situation in Bangladesh – the 2019 Joint Response Plan- which seeks to raise
some $920 million to continue meeting the basic needs of Rohingyas and the
communities so generously hosting them.
This is the Jolie’s first visit to Bangladesh but she also met Rohingyas
during a visit to Myanmar in July 2015 and in India in 2006.