Hollywood star Angelina Jolie calls for ‘commitment’ to end anti-Rohingya violence in Myanmar

Actress Angelina Jolie said on Tuesday that Myanmar must “show genuine commitment” to end violence that has driven hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims into neighbouring Bangladesh.

The superstar envoy for the UN refugee agency made the comments on the second day of emotional meetings with Rohingya, including rape survivors, in the Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh, where some 740,000 refugees have fled since August 2017.

There were already about 300,000 in camps before the exodus, which has strained Bangladesh’s resources to the limit.

The visit came ahead of a new UN appeal to raise nearly one billion dollars for the one million Rohingya now in the camps around the town of Cox’s Bazar.

“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 told reporters.

“The Rohingya families I have met are no different from other refugees in one crucial respect: they want to be able to return home,” she said.