Angelina Jolie: The way Rohingya have been treated shames us all

The plight of Rohingya is back in spotlight thanks to UN Special Envoy Angelina Jolie’s visit to the refugees in Bangladesh, where they have been allowed to live in camps after fleeing Myanmar’s persecution of the minority community.

“It was deeply upsetting to meet the families who have only known persecution and statelessness their whole lives, who speak of being “treated like cattle,” Jolie said after meeting the displaced families now living in Cox’s Bazar.

She expressed her support for the Rohingya refugees and praised Bangladesh’s generosity in hosting them.  Jolie is visiting the Rohingya refugees before the 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 the displaced people, according to the UN Refugee agency, UNHCR.

“You have every right to live in 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 shames us all,” the Hollywood superstar, who has been campaigning for refugees, said in a statement.

She asked Myanmar authorities to show the “genuine commitment needed to end the cycle of violence and displacement and improve the conditions for all communities in Rakhine State, in line with the recommendations of the Rakhine Advisory Commission, and working together with UNHCR and others.

“A test and measure of any government is how they treat the most vulnerable people in society, and how they treat those who stand up for the vulnerable and speak out for the atrocities committed against them. The people responsible for human rights violations must be held accountable for their actions.”

In her role as special envoy, Jolie has been taking Myanmar to task for the treatment meted out to Rohingyas, who she said, have suffered for far too long. 

“What is most tragic about this situation is that we cannot say we had no warning: It is the result of four decades of persecution and discrimination, which have gone unaddressed for far too long.”

More than 730,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar have moved to Bangladesh since August 2017, which now hosts nearly a million refugees.

The majority of refugees – more than 620,000 people – live in just one area: Kutapalong, the largest refugee settlement anywhere in the world today, the UNHCR said.