Washington: Angelina Jolie has asked the Thailand Government to free around 110,000 Burmese refugees who have been locked inside camps for up to 20 years in the country, and let them move around and seek higher education.
The 33-year-old Oscar nominee, who is also a goodwill ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency, made this request after a visit to 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,” People magazine quoted her as saying in a statement, released on Thursday.
Her appeal comes at a time where there has been an increase of migrants from Myanmar, amidst accusations of flagrant crimes against ethnic minorities levelled against the country’s military junta.
“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,” she said.
