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The UNHCR website is reporting that Angelina Jolie is in Thailand for humanitarian purposes, this time to urge their government to support Myanmar (Burmese) refugees who are currently living in camps in the northern part of the country. She hopes that the Thai government will allow for more freedoms for the refugees:
“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. [...] With no foreseeable chance that these refugees will soon be able to return to Burma (Myanmar), we must find some way to help them work and become self reliant,” she said.
There are currently over 111,000 refugees trying to live in a total of nine camps near the border between Thailand and Myanmar and at the moment none of them have permission to work or attend school outside of the camps.
Angelina has sat down with refugees to talk with them about the hardships they have been facing, attended a boarding school to listen to students express fears that they will have to be sent back to Myanmar as soon as their limited school is finished.
Angelina said:
“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.”
The entire article is very educational if you’d like to read it.
To me, this current bit of work that Angelina is doing in Thailand to help refugees puts things into a very solid perspective, what with the Oscars looming ahead. Yes, I’m excited to see Angelina and Brad on the red carpet and to see what they wear. Yes, I’m hoping they will both win an Oscar. But when you read about what Angie is doing right now, it’s clear that if she doesn’t win it really doesn’t matter. Winning awards is wonderful, but what she’s doing when she sits in a little shack with someone who had to flee their village without any family or friends is so much more than a little golden award.
(And I’d just like to take a moment to urge you to consider supporting the UNHCR. Even the smallest donation can help someone in need. The hardships that refugees face are all but inconceivable and you really can help. In the past I have raised a great deal of money for the UNHCR through my personal website during charity drives and it’s amazing to know that an accumulation of just $80 buys 20 warm blankets for refugees, only $100 provides survival kits including blankets and a stove, and it can change a refugee family’s life, making it a little more bearable.)
Image used with permission: Newscom
571 days ago
under mod: my reply to Melanie about the rivalry…
thank you Fan from Vietnam….i didn´t mean to criticise her in any way, its just that i wanted to point out that there is more than the UN is revealing in their reports….:)
i think its great that she is decreasing awareness and i love her for her big heart….
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570 days ago
I just want to add to Phoebe’s post that I’m pretty sure she meant to say “increasing awareness”, NOT “decreassing awareness”! :)
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570 days ago
OH MY!
Thank You joliepittfanatic!:D
yes i meant increasing….lol
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569 days ago
http://nationmultimedia.com/2009/02/11/nat…al_30095443.php
i kinda saw that coming….sorry.
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567 days ago
Thai Prime Minister admits refugees are not being treated as they should?! He’s looking into the situation:
“Thai PM admits boat people pushed out to sea
BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) — Thailand’s prime minister suspects there were “some instances” in which Thai authorities pushed Myanmar’s Rohingya boat people out to sea, a frank admittance of a practice drawing worldwide condemnation.
In an exclusive interview with CNN Thursday, Abhisit Vejjajiva said he could not pinpoint who in the government approved the practice, but said he was working on rectifying the problem.
“It’s not exactly clear whose work it is,” Vejjajiva said. “All the authorities say it’s not their policy, but I have reason to believe some instances of this happened, but if I can have the evidence as to who exactly did this I will certainly bring them to account.”
Thousands of Rohingya refugees — a Muslim minority group from Myanmar — have fled to Thailand over the years and many of them have been housed in Thai camps near the Myanmar border.
In some cases, there are charges that many of them have been kicked back out to sea from Thailand.
A recent CNN investigation found evidence of the Thai army towing an apparent boatload of 190 Rohingya refugees out to sea, prompting Thai authorities to launch an investigation.
And a group of the refugees rescued by Indonesian authorities last week told harrowing tales of being captured, beaten and abandoned at sea by the Thai military.
# Actress Angelina Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency, spoke out on the plight of the refugees last week as she visited the area with her husband, Brad Pitt.#
She asked Thailand to permit greater freedom of movement for the roughly 111,000 refugees housed in nine camps along the Thai-Myanmar border.
Vejjajiva said “at times” there has been “a lot of pressure in terms of the numbers of these people coming in.”
“There are attempts, I think, to let these people drift to other shores. I have asked whether people are aware of such practices. The one thing that is clear is that when these practices do occur, it is done on the understanding that there is enough food and water supplied.”
*The prime minister said he regrets “any losses” that may have occurred from the refugees’ ordeals, but he said he is “doing the best I can do correct the situation.*”
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/02/12/thailand.refugees.admission/index.html
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564 days ago
thanks for posting this – i found that one too….just haven´t had the time to post it yet….
there is one problem though – people think that Thailand does too little and Angie supported this by saying that the government should do “more”. of course she also said that Thailand does alot already and thanked them for the help, but most people do not read her articles further and she should know that there is nothing more the government can do. IMO she should have asked the government of the other neighbour countries to help, not Thailand.as long as no other neighbour country helps too, Thailand can´t resolve the huge amount of refugees….
like i said : the government is doing the best they can. Thailand CAN´T give ALL refugees a home or a place in a camp, where should that go?! no other neighbour country is willing to help as much as Thailand does, although there is that history. now, people who have no clue about what is going on will think that Thailand is the bad bad neighbour who does “nothing” or treats the refugees badly which is not true. its shame really-
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